Fan Death..Watch out!!!!

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Hey guys,
I just finished my day here at school and wanted to share some information on a discussion that we had today. Apparently, in Korea there an urban legend about "Fan Death". They believe that if you sleep with an electric fan on or leave your air conditioner in your car on for too long that you can suffocate, become hpothermic or die from poisoning! To me this seemed absolutely ridiculous but sure enough I looked it up on Wikipedia Encyclopedia and here is what they had to say: (taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_death)

Fan death is an urban legend that originated in South Korea, but has since spread to other countries in the Far East. The belief is that an electric fan, if left running overnight in a closed room, can result in the death (by suffocation, poisoning, or hypothermia) of those inside. This belief also extends to air conditioners and the fans in cars. When the air conditioner or fan is on in a car, some people are apt to leave their car windows open a crack to avoid "fan death." Fans manufactured and sold in Korea are equipped with a timer switch that turns them off after a set number of minutes, which users are frequently urged to set when going to sleep with a fan on.

Beliefs
The belief in the myth of fan-death often offers several explanations for the precise mechanism by which the fan kills. However, as explained below, these beliefs do not stand up to logical and scientific scrutiny. Examples for possible justifications of belief in fan death are as follows:

That an electric fan creates a vortex, which sucks the oxygen from the enclosed and sealed room and creates a partial vacuum inside. In reality, the air pressure at any point in the room varies less than it does during a storm.
That the fan uses up the oxygen in the room and creates fatal levels of carbon dioxide. There is no actual conversion of oxygen to carbon dioxide happening; unlike a candle, the electric motor in a fan does not alter the chemical composition of the air (apart from creating some ozone if the motor uses brushes, and outgassing from the materials).
That if the fan is put directly in front of the face of the sleeping person, it will suck all the air away, preventing one from breathing. However, as can be easily verified, it is possible to breathe with one's face in front of a running fan.
That fanblades chop up air particles (i.e. oxygen molecules) so that the air is no longer breathable, thus resulting in suffocation. If this were true, regular fans could be used to create chemical reactions. However, air ionisers do turn a very small amount of oxygen into unstable ozone.
That fans cause hypothermia. As the metabolism slows down at night, one becomes more sensitive to temperature, and thus supposedly more prone to hypothermia. If the fan is left on all night in a sealed and enclosed room, believers in fan death suppose that it will lower the temperature of the room to the point that it can cause hypothermia. Empirical measurements will show, however, that the temperature in the room does not fall, at least not due to the fan; if at all, it should rise slightly because of friction and the heat output of the fan motor, but even this is generally not significant. Fans actually make one cooler by increasing the convection around a person's body so that heat flows from them to the air more easily, and by the latent heat of vapourisation as perspiration evaporates from the body. Furthermore, hypothermia occurs only when the body's core temperature drops below normal, and will not generally be caused simply by cooling of the skin or decrease in the body's surface temperature.
Often, believers claim that a combination of these factors is responsible. For example, it might be claimed that the decrease in oxygen and increase in carbon dioxide, in conjunction with some degree of hypothermia, could prove fatal to a sleeping person.

Who would have thought hey? Haha, I hope that you all have enjoyed this tid bit of Korean information! Please be cautious when using your fans at night and use your air conditioner with care.

Its been a long day so sorry that this is not a huge update. I am just going to head home and have a quick bite to eat and then head to the gym! I am excited for a good workout. Life is good...

Much love Trena xox

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Comments

[Pam]

Sexy Lady
Hey Trena. Your kids are sooo cute!! I have to say that you look pretty good in that chefs hat too! It sounds like good times over there but Im starting to miss my Trena Louise. Your blogs are great and I love looking at the pictures. THanks for keeping us all updated. Love you lots.