Freezing time for 1 cm of water

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openbahr
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Hey guys,

I have a question... first some backround. I am asking this question is so I can build a backyard skating rink in the fastest way possible. I live in south Jersey so winter is allot of freeze/thaw.

The common way for a backyard rink is 1) place a liner 2) fill 2-3 inches 3) let freeze.
This way, however, is tough in my climate because I would need many days of sub freezing temps to get a good slab of ice.

So...I want to build it up 1 mm or cm at a time, while the temp is right, instantly adding the next layer as soon as the previous one freezes thereby saving time.

Questions:
1) is there a set formula to figure how fast 1 cm will freeze?
2) does surface area matter ? (Im sure it does)
3) how does the time to freeze change as temp drops lower

Thanks in advance for any help.
 
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There are way too many unknowns to solve the problem as given.

How are you going to make sure your ice doesn't melt when the temps go high?
 
I wasn't too concerned about the melting. I am just interested right now how long a cm would take. Sent from my iPhone using Physics Forums