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DENJIRO: These are refrigerators that you can take around with you, which are in high demand due to the recent popularity of outdoor activities. How do portable refrigerators keep things cold? When we take a look at the back of the refrigerator… there is an aluminum heatsink with a white substance covering it. This is what is used to keep the inside of the fridge cool.
We took this piece out from the heatsink. It is called a "Peltier device." Let's pass electricity through it and observe it with a thermal camera. It is clear that the surface is becoming colder. When we look at the backside of the Peltier device… it is becoming hot. In the case of the portable refrigerator, the cooler side of the Peltier device is used to chill the inside of the fridge, and the heat on the other side is released using a heatsink and a fan.
Why does passing electricity through a Peltier device cause a temperature difference? Let's perform an experiment that will allow us to understand. This thin tube made of glass contains metals. There's bismuth on the right side, antimony in the middle, and bismuth on the left side as well. Let's pass electricity through it and observe it using a thermal camera. When electricity flows from the bismuth to the antimony, the junction cools down, and when electricity flows from the antimony to the bismuth, the junction heats up. This is called the Peltier effect, and a similar phenomenon occurs within Peltier devices.
Here is what the inside of a Peltier device looks like. Two types of semiconductors, "P" and "N," are used here, and each are connected by metallic plates. Electricity flows through the semiconductors and the plate, resulting in one side to be cooler, while the other becomes hotter.
NARRATOR: The cooling technology of Peltier devices is used in the latest models of neck coolers as well!
DENJIRO: I hope energy will bring you all happiness. Our magic word is "Happy Energy!"