The Science Trick That Can Cool A Scorching Hot Car Interior In Seconds

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It's never fun to enter a scorching car interior after parking in the sun. It doesn't take long for your car to turn into an oven after you get out and shut the door. Cabin temperatures could rise to 109 degrees Fahrenheit in just 20 minutes when it's only 80 degrees outside. After 40 minutes, it can hit 118, and after an hour an extremely hot 123 degrees.

For context, Ecostress maps from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory show that asphalt and concrete pavements in Phoenix can register a similar 120 degrees during the hottest parts of the day. That's hot enough to give your skin second-degree burns.

Unless carmakers find ways to combat heat with thermal-reflective paint, there's almost no escaping the sun's rays when your car is parked outdoors. However, you can do something to minimize your discomfort upon getting in. And what better way to do it than by using some scientific wisdom from a social-media personality with a PhD in fluid dynamics who teaches math at the University of Cambridge.

Professor Hannah Fry suggests that instead of turning on the AC at full blast, you can cool down a hot interior more quickly by cranking down a passenger-side window, then rapidly closing and opening a driver's side door a couple of times. Doing so draws the hot air outward and creates a low-pressure or vacuum zone that draws in fresher air from the open window.