Is It True You Can Freeze a Bottle of Water?

[garytse86]

I have heard that:

if you put a bottle of water in the freezer, but not long enough to change state to solid, then you take the bottle out, and hit the container and the whole bottle of water should turn into a solid...

is this true?

 

[jdavel]

garytse86,

If the bottle is filled right to the top and it has a tight lid, it's possible. You'd want to get the water to just below zero degrees, and then the pressure from its expansion would prevent it from freezing. Then when the bottle is broken, the pressure drops, and at sub 0 temp, the water freezes.

 

[outandbeyond2004]

It's possible to "supercool" the liquid --cool the liquid to below 0^0 C. Hairy but possible. Hitting the bottle (not necessarily breaking it) may cause the water to freeze.