Which will thaw faster: a liquid that you leave alone or one where every few min you drain off what has thawed

Answer 1

Yes replaced with warmer air but you didn't say you were going to blow on it. Beside water is much denser and it only takes less than one degree to thaw The liquid around it acts like a heat sink compound between the ice and the container and what ever it is setting on. Put it in a larger container and let it thaw with the liquid on. Compare that to pouring the liquid off. And Leaving the liquid in the same container. Then put a small amount of water between the container and what it is setting on. Be sure to use a digital stop watch because there is very little difference. I would be interested in seeing a graph of the results.

Answer 2

I think it'll thaw faster if you drain off the liquid. Ultimately the same amount of heat is required in either case; but that heat will probably transfer into the solid more quickly if you drain off the liquid. If you don't drain the liquid, there's an extra layer of cold liquid that the heat (from outside) has to get through in order to warm up the remaining solid. When you remove the liquid, that layer of cold water is replaced with (relatively) warmer air.

Answer 3

I suppose the liquid that you leave alone will thaw faster. The liquid that has melted will have a higher temperature as compared to the initially frozen liquid (which has a temperature colder than 0 degree celsius), therefore it will speed up the reaction by giving a little warmth to the liquid that has not thawed.

Make sense? You could probably experiment this at home. =)

Answer 4

It doesn't really matter. If you drain off the liquid, it doesn't stop melting during that time. If you did and experiment like that, you would have the exact same outcome. (most likely) If anything, the liquid that you leave alone would thaw faster since you leave the cold water on the ice, causing it to melt faster. That's a very interesting question. Thanks for asking!

Answer 5

no difference whatsoever.,