[fan, Photo Credit to Pixabay]

Recently, in China, a modified fan, known as a “fan-air conditioner,” began trending on social media.

On June 18th, Chinese social networking services reported that the fan-air conditioner, which is modified to produce cooler air, is trending.

The modified fan is composed of a fan and several plastic bottles.

Specifically, the modified fan requires simple steps to create, attracting more netizens in China to follow the viral trend.

First, multiple plastic bottles should be gathered and then cut off so only the bottlenecks remain.

The bottlenecks should then be fixed at the fan’s air outlet, with the part with the larger area attached to the fan.

The modified fan is designed so the wind passes through the plastic bottlenecks.

Several videos on Chinese social media platforms were created regarding the air-conditioner fan to explain how to create the modified fan.

One user on Douyin, a Chinese short-form video platform, claimed that creating a fan-air conditioner transfers air from the fan that is actually cooler than that of an air conditioner.

The modified fan gained massive popularity in China, as heat waves have soared above 40 degrees Celsius.

To avoid the heat at a relatively low cost, the modified fan became a hot topic in China.

However, with many impractical life hacks trending on social media only to collect views, netizens have been skeptical about the modified fan's practicality.

Xu Qian, a Chinese student known as a prodigy with several accolades in the field of science, has eased the skeptics.

He provided a scientific rationale behind how the plastic bottlenecks actually cool down the air from the fan.

Some of his achievements include winning the Asian Physics Olympiad and being promised admission to Peking University.

Xu Qian explained, “When the airflow is constricted from a larger diameter to a smaller one, its speed increases. As the size of the hole decreases, the temperature of the gas drops accordingly.”

To better explain to the general public, he added that similar principles can be examined when blowing air with an open mouth feels warm, but blowing with pursed lips feels relatively cooler.

Consequently, many netizens showed positive reactions, with the breeze from the fan-air conditioner actually feeling chilly, and even feeling cooler than actual air conditioners.

The air temperature from a fan with attached water bottles was tested to be 0.2 degrees lower than that of a regular fan.

Thus, it became a good tool to combat the heat.

However, due to the relatively small change, the fan was discovered to only feel cooler in the beginning instant, and it does not actually affect the indoor temperature like a typical air conditioner would.

Despite their efforts to combat the heat, China’s heat wave is expected to persist for a longer period of time.

The abnormal climate in China is considered an effect of global warming, and greater irregularities are expected in the future.