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| Team Apathy |
Can anyone explain to me why the following occurred: I put a 1 liter bottle of water that was approximately half full into the freezer portion of my minifridge in my office. It has been there, undisturbed, for a couple hours. I just pulled it out and it was very cold but decidedly 100% liquid in the bottle. No ice at all. Just cold. I took the 2 steps back to my desk and as I did I gave the bottle a little shake for no apparent reason, and then set it on my desk. Maybe 2 minutes I looked at the bottle to pick it up and noticed that at least half the water had turned to a slush/crushed ice looking substance. Hows that work, eh? Was the air content of the bottle below freezing so that when I mixed it the water by shaking it the temp dropped just a hair more? | ||
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| Freethinker |
I’m sure someone will come along with the proper explanation, but I do know that water can become “supercooled” without freezing, and then any little disturbance will start the process of forming ice crystals. ► 6.4/93.6 “Cet animal est très méchant, quand on l’attaque il se défend.” | |||
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Member |
^^^^^ Same thing as "super heated"?? As in putting a container of water in the microwave and it doesn't boil until it's disturbed?? Maybe the same theory? IANAP... "If you’re a leader, you lead the way. Not just on the easy ones; you take the tough ones too…” – MAJ Richard D. Winters (1918-2011), E Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil... Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel." - Isaiah 5:20,24 | |||
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| Team Apathy |
Thanks, the term "Supercool" pointed to the answer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph8xusY3GTM | |||
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Political Cynic |
not that uncommon an occurrence there is a phenomenon where very still water can get sub-cooled without the formation of crystals, and what happens is that when you disturb the liquid, it will immediately start to crystallize water will freeze at 32F or 0C only when in equilibrium - and thats standard pressure. Its possible to have liquid water at -8C under certain conditions also remember that the 32F is for pure water, chances are your water sample was completely pure and a small particle became the nucleus for the freezing process and then everything around it started to rapidly freeze - happening fast enough that you could actually watch the formation of ice crystals There is a technical term for that particular phenomenon and I can't lay my hands on a Thermodynamics text to look it up [B] Against ALL enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC | |||
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| Team Apathy |
Pretty interesting. I also noted that the bottle was a little "caved in" when I pulled it out, which also makes sense. Pressure in the sealed vessel dropped as the water temp dropped 35+ degrees. So if water can get cooler at lower pressures I suppose that would help this scenario. Now I'm wondering if the full bottle I put in there at the same time is ready to crystallize?? The water is from a natural spring near my home that I collect and store for drinking and cooking. Good to know that it is pure (I already knew as it is tested annually but this is confirmation). EDIT: The full bottle did it as well. I'm going to use this to convince my coworkers that I'm a magician. | |||
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| Partial dichotomy |
A little off topic, but a friend once had a case of water in her trunk and the outside temps went below freezing over night. She noticed some of the bottles had frozen and others hadn't. I attributed it to minerals in some of the bottles lowering the freezing point. SIGforum: For all your needs! Imagine our influence if every gun owner in America was an NRA member! Click the box>>>  | |||
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| Run Silent Run Deep  |
I work in lyophilization...freeze drying. Google Control Lyo Technology and then look at some videos. We perfected it with Praxair. It allows us to control supercooling in freeze dried pharmaceutical products. _____________________________ Pledge allegiance or pack your bag! The problem with Socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money. - Margaret Thatcher Spread my work ethic, not my wealth | |||
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| Member |
funny you mention this -- it happens sometimes with my Cokes I drink with pizza. I want a really cold coke when I get my pizza so I will put a cold coke in the freezer for like 20 mins. The first sip is regular fluid -- but the second sip is slushy about 2 minutes later. Obviously the timing has to be right not to totally freeze the coke... but I have had similar results on occasion. pretty cool -- and delicious ------------------------- Proverbs 27:17 - As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. | |||
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Lost |
Yep, supercooling. Without a nucleation event, the water keeps cooling below its freezing point. Usually an impurity serves as the nucleation site (so this tends to work better with pure water). But pouring or jarring the liquid can also start the crystallization process. | |||
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Ammoholic |
Learned about this in college. We learned when you put a beer in a freezer you must take a large sip immediately after removing it from freezer and open it gently, otherwise you had to wait ten minutes to drink it. Asked a professor and he explained the science of it. Fast forward. I have it timed perfectly from when I wake up to when I leave to put water bottles in the freezer and pull them out and tap on counter. Results in slushly water that is ice cold a few hours later when I drink it. Also I use less freezer packs in summer and can squeeze in one or two extra water bottles for extra hydration. Jesse Sic Semper Tyrannis | |||
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Baroque Bloke |
Aircraft pilots know of the supercooling effect, for sure! It can cause very fast ice formation. Serious about crackers | |||
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