Why is ice cold?

Answer 1

Actually, this is a good question - more complicated than it looks!

Ice is cold because our nerves that detect heat/cold perceive it as reducing the temperature of the skin. That occurs for two reasons:

1) when you touch ice, there is heat transfer from the skin to the ice due to conduction to increase the temperature of the ice - warmer (faster) molecules in the skin transfer their kinetic energy by colliding with colder (slower) molecules in the ice.

2) a small amount of ice at the surface melts, absorbing energy (called "the heat of fusion") required to break the forces between ice molecules that keep it a solid. When that energy is absorbed from the skin, it feels cold.

Answer 2

Ice is cold because the molecules (water) are compressed together. Anything that is compressed together, is cooler. If you could put air into a tube, and compress it down to make it smaller, the air inside would be colder. Cold air days are the best days for flying, because the air is thicker (molecules are closer together) Hot air days, in high altitudes, can actually prevent an aircraft from taking flight properly - because the molecues are so far apart. There are some good answers here, but the people that ignorantly answer 'frozen' don't have a clue, do they?

Answer 3

because the energy required to bring the water molecules together in a solid phase is higher than the energy they had before in the liquid phase therefore the molecules need to draw energy from their surroundings and that is why the ice feels cold. This is called and endothermic reaction.

Answer 4

Because when you put two items together that are different temperatures, the heat moves from the warmer to the cooler one. So when you touch ice, it actually removes some heat from your body.

Answer 5

Well, because it's frozen water. And water only gets solid below zero degrees centigrade.

"Frozen" steel (or solid steel) keeps the shape even at plus 100 degrees (C or F).

Answer 6

dude your so stupid why would you even ask that question

because its frozen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(and everything that is frozen is usually cold)
if you wanna know why things get cold/frozen it's cause the molecules that make up the object(s) are moving slow and disperse less energy.

Answer 7

because every substance has a solidification temperature, and water´s is 0 C (meaning very cold)

Answer 8

Because it is frozen water Einstein.

Answer 9

because it has a lower temperature than liquid water

Answer 10

hmmmm i had to do research for this one....


maybe its because its frozen, duh