Is supercooling possible?

Answer 1

Supercooling a fluid is simply the act of obtaining a temperature for a liquid below its freezing point. For instance, supercooled water would be liquid water that is below 32F or 0C. This can be done if you use very pure water that is kept above normal pressure than the usual pressure that we are all subject too (101kPa). Keeping water at pressure more than atmospheric will allow you to get the temp of the water below its freezing point and remain a liquid. As soon as you bring the water back into atmospheric pressure it will freeze - this is what happens to liquid nitrogen when you pour it out from a pressurized container. Hope this helps, good question!

Answer 2

Supercooling is when you cool a liquid below the temperature that it would normally turn into a solid, but it still remains in liquid form.

You can do this with filtered, distilled water in an extremely clean beaker in your freezer. If you're very careful not do disturb the beaker (sometimes the vibration from the refrigerator's compressor motor is too much) the water will cool well below 32F without freezing and you'll have supercooled water.

Be careful, because even the slightest bump will cause the water to instantly crystallize, which can sometimes break the glass beaker too. (Use a pyrex beaker.)

Answer 3

If you're speaking of liquids remaining liquids when cooled to temperatures below their melting point - then yes.

Take water, for example. Heating ice causes melting - it breaks crystal bonds. However, cooling liquid water does not in and of itself cause freezing. Water molecules must have a crystal structure on which to attach. Most water (such as tap water) has plenty of such crystal nuclei with which to seed the freezing process.

However, relatively pure water samples (especially small samples such as cloud droplets) may not have appropriate nuclei. One can cool these samples well below 0 degrees C before freezing occurs. At -40 C, water molecules move sluggishly enough that there is a excellent chance of them 'falling' into formation on their own.

Often times, clouds droplets remain liquid down to -20 C.

Answer 4

Glass and sugar (glucose) are two examples of supercooled liquids.