Backstory: Our refrigerator at work has been causing all sorts of problems and it's my job to fix it.

It has been brought to my attention that the culprit of the “Who Left the Freezer Door Ajar?” mystery is indeed none other than the refrigerator itself. Evidently, there is a rivalry between the cooling chamber and the freezer chamber that, like a Vaudeville comedy routine, causes the latter to be pushed open whenever the former is closed shut. Though initially thought of as a fundamental structural flaw, I have investigated the problem and concluded that the catalyst of this event is our old friend The Conservation of Momentum.

When the fridge door slams shut, its momentum has to go somewhere, so it gets transferred to the entire mass of the refrigerator. This includes the mobile mass of the freezer door, which is acted on by a force that overrides the stickiness that normally seals it shut.

Since momentum (p) is simply mass (m) multiplied by velocity (v), we could reduce the momentum by reducing either mass or velocity. Therefore, I simply reduced the mass by jettisoning any unused matter that was being stored on the fridge door. With less momentum to conserve, there is not enough force to knock the freezer door open. Problem solved.

We can all do our part to reduce the amount of momentum that is being conserved by not adding any mass to the fridge door. In other words, drinks, condiments, and coffee cans should be placed in the center chamber from now on.