Can You Speed Up Ice Tray Freezing?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around methods to accelerate the freezing process of water in ice trays. Participants explore various techniques, materials, and personal experiences related to ice production, including theoretical and practical approaches.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant suggests that a larger temperature difference is necessary for faster ice production, questioning the effectiveness of typical freezer settings.
  • Another proposes using liquid nitrogen, although they acknowledge the impracticality of having it readily available.
  • A suggestion is made to maximize freezer settings and to use pre-cooled water to refill trays, which may enhance freezing speed.
  • Some participants share personal anecdotes about using multiple ice trays to ensure a steady supply of ice, highlighting the challenges of refilling them.
  • There are mentions of alternative methods, such as using CO2 or compressed air to potentially speed up freezing, though these ideas remain speculative.
  • One participant discusses the use of ice cube bags, which are easier to store and use than traditional trays, although they do not freeze faster.
  • Another participant introduces the idea that heating water slightly before freezing might lead to faster ice formation, referencing the Mpemba effect, but expresses skepticism about its applicability in this context.
  • Concerns are raised about space limitations in freezers and the impact of other frozen items on ice tray availability.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a variety of opinions on the best methods to speed up ice production, with no consensus reached on any single approach. Some ideas are debated, particularly regarding the heating of water before freezing and the practicality of using alternative freezing methods.

Contextual Notes

Some claims about freezing techniques depend on specific conditions and assumptions that are not universally applicable. The discussion includes anecdotal evidence and personal experiences, which may not reflect broader applicability.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in home ice production methods, those looking for creative solutions to common household challenges, and participants in discussions about thermodynamics and freezing processes may find this thread relevant.

  • #31
Don't know how much of a difference this will make, but try using distilled water instead of tap water. It might make a little bit of a difference since tap water probably needs to be colder to freeze than distilled water because of all the crap in there.
 
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  • #32
Chi Meson said:
Well, as the water gets colder, then it will take longer and longer to freeze, won't it?
Yes, they'd have to keep reheating it to get it to freeze faster, wouldn't they?
 
  • #33
I don't have an ice-maker fridge because they are too wide and I've recently re-modelled my kitchen.

Many people here in the UK have a fridge-freezer where the fridge sits above the freezer.
Why doesn't someone invent a fridge-freezer with an ice maker between the fridge and freezer? In that way it would take up the same floor space but just be slightly taller. I'm sure there'd be a market.
 
  • #34
About the hot water freezing, this link: http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/General/hot_water.html" seems to say that this effect happens in real life, not just in the lab. What do you guys think?
 
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  • #35
See my first post in this thread. I have read about this effect before (glad to know it has a name), and my teaching guru, Paul Hewitt, has explained this phenomenon in his taped lectures.

I do believe it can happen, however in a controlled experiment I did using equal amounts of water(220g) in identical containers (cylindrical, open top).

For 6 different initial temperatures ranging from 10 degrees to 80 degrees C, we got a nearly perfect linear relationship: the time to freeze is proportional to inital temerature.

I think it would be useful to try different shapes of containers. I believe if this effect works, you will need a larger open surface area per volume ratio.

I remain sceptical even now that this will work in ice trays.
 

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