Freezing water of different starting temp.

  • Context: High School 
  • Thread starter Thread starter feyn
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Freezing Water
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the phenomenon where hotter water appears to freeze faster than colder water, commonly referred to as the Mpemba effect. Participants explore various factors that may influence the freezing process, including evaporation, water quantity, and overcooling, while questioning the assumptions underlying the effect.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • One participant notes that hotter water evaporates more than cooler water, which may contribute to its faster freezing, but questions why it continues to lose temperature quicker even when both reach the same temperature.
  • Another participant references an external source for further information on the topic.
  • A participant shares personal observations regarding the freezing of different volumes of water, suggesting that smaller quantities may not freeze as expected and could be subject to overcooling, challenging the assumption that less water freezes faster.
  • This participant expresses skepticism about the conventional understanding of the Mpemba effect, based on their experimental experiences with varying amounts of water and temperatures.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the factors influencing the freezing process, particularly regarding the role of evaporation and the impact of water quantity. There is no consensus on the validity of the Mpemba effect or the assumptions surrounding it.

Contextual Notes

Some claims rely on personal experimental observations, which may not be universally applicable. The discussion highlights the complexity of the freezing process and the potential for overcooling, but lacks definitive conclusions or universally accepted explanations.

feyn
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
I have questions to a classic experiment : you have 2 equal containers filled with water. IN one the temperature of the water is 98° Celsius, in the other the water has 25° Celsius. If you put both in the freezer the one with the hotter water freezes first.
Now i do understand that one looses its temperature quicker due to the evaporating water (hotter water evaporates more then lukewarm water), but at some point both will have the same temperature, so why is one still loosing its temperature quicker ? Is it cause it has lost more water, so there is less to freeze ? So little water can´t have that much consequences, can it ?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Go to: http://www2.binghamton.edu/physics/docs/Royal%20Society%20Mpemba%20effect%20Final%20%2010%20Aug%2012%20%201.pdf

for the answer.

Blue Spruce
 
If you have 2 recipees, one with say 100 ml of water and the other with 90 ml of water at the same temperature and you start to freeze them. It is not obvious at all that the 90 ml will freeze first. I've noticed that the fewer amount of water you have, the lesser it will reach in temperature before freezing (overcooling). I could never avoid over cooling (even with vibrations) when freezing water.
This could imply that evaporation of water actually enlarge the time it will take for the water to freeze. (I did not test for high temperatures).
For very small drops of water, I could go as low as -17°C easily without them to freeze. In fact I could not get them to freeze at 0°C or even close to it. The bigger drops would freeze before the smaller ones (around -4°C was common).
This effect is something I've never read when reading about the Mpemba effect. On the contrary, they all seemed to assume that a lesser quantity of water would freeze before a greater quantity. So they say that evaporation helps the hot water to freeze before the colder water. Well, I do not trust this at all. I've played enough in the lab with water and I'm sure that this is wrong. :smile:
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
8K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
920
  • · Replies 13 ·
Replies
13
Views
5K
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
3K
  • · Replies 16 ·
Replies
16
Views
7K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
1K
  • · Replies 16 ·
Replies
16
Views
7K
  • · Replies 11 ·
Replies
11
Views
4K
  • · Replies 46 ·
2
Replies
46
Views
8K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
3K