Instantly Freeze Beer in 5 Seconds?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the claim of instantly freezing beer in five seconds, as demonstrated in a video. Participants explore the feasibility of this phenomenon, discussing concepts such as supercooling, nucleation sites, and the potential manipulation of video content.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express skepticism about the video's authenticity, suggesting it may be edited to create the illusion of rapid freezing.
  • Others recount personal experiences with supercooling, where liquids remain unfrozen until disturbed, leading to rapid crystallization.
  • One participant proposes that the phenomenon observed with dew on a windshield could also be explained by supercooling.
  • Several participants discuss the necessity of nucleation sites for freezing to occur, indicating that water can remain liquid below freezing temperatures without them.
  • There is mention of a method to achieve instant freezing by disturbing a supercooled liquid, although this is noted to be potentially dangerous.
  • Some participants question the relevance of additional elements mentioned in the video, such as the straw and fire, suggesting they may not contribute to the freezing process.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree that the video is likely doctored and that supercooling is a plausible explanation for the observed phenomena. However, there is no consensus on the relevance of certain elements in the video or the specifics of the freezing process.

Contextual Notes

Participants note that the discussion involves assumptions about the conditions under which supercooling occurs and the specific characteristics of the liquids involved. The potential dangers of the proposed methods are also acknowledged.

Newai
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I can't seem to get this to work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQifsQjvxyQ

Real?
 
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Newai said:
I can't seem to get this to work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQifsQjvxyQ

Real?

Notice that they are in a freezer locker. The end of the video is edited to time-lapse it so that the hour it takes to freeze the glass looks like it happens in a few seconds.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Okay, I can go with a video cut, but a freezer locker? With vinyl floor and weights on wooden shelves?
 
Newai said:
Okay, I can go with a video cut, but a freezer locker? With vinyl floor and weights on wooden shelves?

Yeah, you guys are probably right. At first it looked like a freezer locker, but a video cut seems more likely.
 
How could they possibly think anyone would take this seriously??

The entire lighting of the scene changes dramatically in the "few seconds" that the ice freezes.
 
DaveC426913 said:
How could they possibly think anyone would take this seriously??

Because P.T. Barnum was right. EDIT: Now more than ever given population growth.
 
Frame Dragger said:
Because P.T. Barnum was right. EDIT: Now more than ever given population growth.

That is exactly what I had been considering saying. (I refrained out of conisderation for the OP.)
 
DaveC426913 said:
That is exactly what I had been considering saying. (I refrained out of conisderation for the OP.)

I have been known to be blunt more often than not, especially when the perfect phrase has already been coined! :smile:

Lets be frank, you're a much kinder person than I am online. I have already been called "hard-hearted" by the now dearly departed yotzzmun. :rolleyes: Now he was someone who really tested my restraint, and I think jtbell must have been feeling merciful when he didn't smite me. :wink:
 
  • #10
Newai said:
Real?

I do not claim to know how this works, but I have experienced this accidentally before.

I put some bottles in the freezer, when I looked later one was frozen but the other was still completely liquid. When I took the liquid one out of the freezer, right before my eyes, it froze solid in a few seconds.

Also on a morning when it was just at freezing outside I found liquid dew on my windshield I turned on the windshield wipers and as soon as they started moving the dew turned to ice instantly.

Maybe the salt acted like the salt used to make ice cream in a homemade ice cream machine.

I have no idea about the straw and fire.

Can anyone explain how what I experienced works?
 
  • #11
The bottles: one was has some liquid unfrozen, and because of the expansion of the water as it froze, the water was either pooled in the bottom or top, or "smooshed" around the edged giving the ILLUSION of being unfrozen. You move it, and that liquid settles into a few cracks, or just flat out breaks the illusion.

The dew on your car probably WAS frozen, but your car gets hot from the inside out, right? So you melt (partially) the dewdrop on the side of the window facing you (inside of the car). Hit the wiper and what LOOKS like water droplets, falls away as ice (leaving some streaks perhaps?).
 
  • #12
Frame Dragger said:
perhaps?

Good theories. However when I took the bottle out of the freezer it was completely clear and sloshed in the bottle as I took it out like a liquid. Then crystallized within a few seconds right before my eyes.

The dew on my windshield looked to be liquid from outside my car, being smooth and shiny and completely clear, then instantly crystallized and became opaque as soon as the wipers began to move.

Can water be cooled to the edge of freezing and still remain liquid until some kinetic energy stimulates the crystallization?
 
  • #13
dlwilliamson said:
I put some bottles in the freezer, when I looked later one was frozen but the other was still completely liquid. When I took the liquid one out of the freezer, right before my eyes, it froze solid in a few seconds.

Also on a morning when it was just at freezing outside I found liquid dew on my windshield I turned on the windshield wipers and as soon as they started moving the dew turned to ice instantly.


Can anyone explain how what I experienced works?
Yup. Not uncommon. It's called supercooling.

Freezing requires more than simply cold temperatures. It requires nucleation sites as well. If there are no nucleation sites for the water to begin crystalizing at, then, in some cases the water simply does not crystalize, even as the temp drops well below freezing. The water is supercooled and unstable. Give it a shake and the whole thing'll freeze rapidily.
 
  • #14
DaveC426913 said:
It requires nucleation sites as well.

Excellent! Thank You!

So that could explain the video.

But I still do not see the relevance of the straw and fire.
 
  • #15
DaveC426913 said:
It requires nucleation sites as well.

Excellent! Thank You!

So that could explain the video.

But I still do not see the relevance of the straw and fire.
 
  • #16
dlwilliamson said:
Excellent! Thank You!

So that could explain the video.

But I still do not see the relevance of the straw and fire.

There is no relevance. Like superheating of water, the issue is the water falling below freezing (or past boiling) without nucleation sites for bubbles or crystals to form. You must live in a very cold place, or have a VERY powerful freezer.

Whether I'm right, or DaveC is, the Straw and Fire = "Abracadabra" for this "trick".

It does NOT explain the video either, which as has been established, is clearly doctored.
 
  • #17
dlwilliamson said:
Excellent! Thank You!

So that could explain the video.

But I still do not see the relevance of the straw and fire.

Yes, as FD points out: the video is not real. It's done with time-lapse. The straw and fire are bait & switch.
 
  • #18
Put a beer in the freezer being sure not to disturb it.
Pull it out the next day, and hit another bottle on top of the super cooled one. Insta frozen beer.
 
  • #19
MotoH said:
Put a beer in the freezer being sure not to disturb it.
Pull it out the next day, and hit another bottle on top of the super cooled one. Insta frozen beer.

NOTE: This can be dangerous...
 
  • #20
lol

The message is not too short, damn you.
 
  • #21
!10 char
 
  • #22
MotoH said:
Put a beer in the freezer being sure not to disturb it.
Pull it out the next day, and hit another bottle on top of the super cooled one. Insta frozen beer.

haha nice. party trick maybe? :smile:
 

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