I had a really cold bottle of water in the fridge, but there was no ice in it at all, none of it was actually frozen. When I poured it into my cup it turned to ice slush before my eyes. I repeated this stunt and my sister witnessed it, but I cannot explain it. It seemed to work better if I poured the water very quickly.
2006-10-17 04:54:50 · 13 answers · asked by Esteban 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Found the answer myself. It is called "supercooling". More info here: http://f0rked.com/articles/supercooling
2006-10-17 05:07:13 · update #1
You have supercooled water. Ice usually forms at 0 C (32 F) but, as you may know, when water freezes it expands. This means the molecules must be arranged differently in ice than is water. If you keep water very still whille chilling it, it becomes more difficult for the water molecules to move around to the proper configuration for freezing. Because of this, the freezing point is depressed, You can chill the water below 0 C with no ice forming.
When you pour the water out, you provide the jostling needed for the molecules to align and freeze. The agitation of pouring raises the freezing point back up to 0 C. SInce the water is below that, some of it freezes. There is a real limit to how much will freeze because freezing liberates energy to the surrounding water. For every degree C of supercooling about 1/80 th of the water will freeze on agitation. Thats just the ratio of the heat capacity to the heat of fusion.
I think the most stunning demonstration of supercooling is freezing rain where ice builds up very thick on tree branches and power lines. If this were just rain in cold weather, the rain would drip off before it froze. However, the water becomes supercooled while falling and the disturbance of the impact makes some of the water freeze instantaneously. If you are fortunate enough to have freezing rain in your area, listen to it. The rain makes a snapping sounds, unlike ordinary rain. It is the sound of crystallization on impact.
2006-10-17 05:20:21 · answer #1 · answered by Pretzels 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
The only explanation could be you have kept the water in a closed airtight bottle and strong enough it couldn't burst and withstood the pressure that was created while freezing. Since the water at a higher pressure it decreases the freezing point and couldn't freeze. When you open it the water expands thus increasing the freezing point and forms slush.
2006-10-17 05:48:15 · answer #2 · answered by Dr M 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The water from the fridge was supercooled ie. its temperature was marginally below 0C. As you poured it into the glass the water encountered some particulate material, small particles of dust maybe, which formed nuclei about which ice crystals could form. Thus ----SLUSH!
2006-10-17 05:30:20 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Undisturbed water can exist as a liquid below Zero celsius, if there's no 'trigger' irregularity to start the change-of-state.
Pouring this into a glass will cause (precipitate) the change, in a similar way to the onset of rain, snow or hail when cold, wet air is sufficiently disturbed (eg by rain from above, or dust particles or interference from another air current).
These are called 'atmospheric precipitation'.
2006-10-17 05:09:24 · answer #4 · answered by Fitology 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A similar thing happened to me a few time. I had bottles of water in the freezer. When I took them out, there was no ice, but when I shook it, it turned to slush. I could actually see the slush forming throughout the bottle.
2006-10-17 05:04:33 · answer #5 · answered by suppajam 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most of the above plus the water was probably purified in some way and in a very clean container. No particles to start the freezing process.
Try it again with tap water in a used bottle. I don't think it will work.
2006-10-17 05:54:11 · answer #6 · answered by DriverRob 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Whats the setting on your fridge?
Are you sure there was no ice in it? Ice can be seriously stealthy sometimes... i.e. difficult to see when its IN water.
I've seen it do a few other amusing things before... but not actually freezing when exposed to a -warmer- atmosphere.
Maybe it was pressure, but I doubt what you're describing is what actually happens at all.
2006-10-17 05:02:08 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
difference in air pressure in the bottle lowers the freezing point, so it freezes when poured.
heat escapes as it is poured cooling it further.
2006-10-17 05:42:28 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It was probably very close to freezing. When you opened it, it lost enough heat to turn to ice.
2006-10-17 05:03:49 · answer #9 · answered by Alex 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Stop pouting in a glass it`s naughty.Hurts your lips
2006-10-17 05:04:56 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋