why do ice cubes become smaller after time in deep freeze?

Answer 1

Sublimation occurs in a freezer. This is the process where ice goes directly from a solid to a vapor state. The vapor state typically then returns to a solid state elsewhere in a process called depositon. This is how frozen moisture is lost from food and they become dry. And this is why ice cubes get smaller.

In a partial vacuum this process is speeded up and you have a process called "freeze dried", which is used to make foods used by backpackers and hikers in the mountains.

If you want to reduce the loss of moisture in food you have to tightly wrap them in something waterproof before putting them in the freezer.

Answer 2

Several people have hit the nail on the head when they said that the process by which ice cubes become smaller in a freezer is sublimation.

Answer 3

The usual reason in home freezers is that they are "frost-free", which means they periodically cycle air through the freezer to remove any moisture in the freezer's air. This keeps ice from forming on all the cold surfaces - "frost-free" - but also accelerates dehydration. The process is "entrainment".

Subliming of ice really only happens at low pressure, "freeze-drying" instant coffee, for example. This is not a process happening in the home freezer.

Answer 4

The ice undergoes sublimation. (Solid changing into a gas).
Sublimation can also be observed with dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide) changing from a solid to wispy "fog" which is a gas.
My ancestors even knew about sublimation (though they did know what it was called.) When they did the laundry in winter, they would hang up the washed clothes outside, and it would freeze (Canadian winters are cold). Eventually, the clothes would by dry enough to be collected.

Answer 5

ice cubes sublime, meaning some of the ice is converted directly from solid to gas, so they get smaller

Answer 6

Water first is the only liquid tha expands when freezes. After the initial expansion, water experiences convection meaning it turns immediately to gas.

Answer 7

If this is true then my guess would be sublimation - i.e. the water goes straight from solid (ice) to gas (water vapour) without passing through the liquid phase.

Answer 8

The answer is simple. When water freezes and becomes ice, it expands. However, when it is cooled further, it compresses, or becomes smaller similiar to the way other items (i.e. bridges) do.

Answer 9

what happends is that H2o is the only element that expand when it frezed or when it becomes solid becomes solid so I think that is does not get smaller it gets biger

Answer 10

The peguin who turns the light on and off licks them!