Question about the term "frozen"

[Fig Neutron]

This may be a dumb question (which is often the case for questions you come up with at 2 am), but I would like to ask anyway.

For substances that are liquid at room temperature there is a freezing point (point that it becomes a solid) lower than the average temperature of a room. For the purpose of this question I am just going to use water and copper for my examples.

When water reaches 0 degrees Celsius it transitions into a solid. At this point the water is considered frozen. The melting point for copper is about 1075 degrees Celsius. Now this next part is the part that sounds weird. Does that mean that at the typical room temperature, when copper is a solid, it would be considered frozen?

If water is considered “frozen” at the point that it becomes a solid, does that mean that copper is considered “frozen” at the point that it becomes a solid? Generally people think of something as being frozen when it feels cold to us, so I don’t know if the term “frozen” is one that should not be used for this type of description or if I am thinking about it wrong.

Thank you for reading and hopefully my question makes sense.

 

[Drakkith]

Does that mean that at the typical room temperature, when copper is a solid, it would be considered frozen?

Sure. You could say that the copper is 'frozen' if you'd like. You just might get some raised eyebrows since most people don't use it in this context.

 

[scottdave]

I remember seeing the temperatures for a substance as melting point (between solid and liquid) and boiling point (between liquid and gas). There are substances where it is called "frozen" like dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide. And of course water. I guess you could say frozen copper, but I don't think it would convey the meaning. Solid copper would probably be a term that would be used in practice.

 

[sophiecentaur]

at the typical room temperature, when copper is a solid, it would be considered frozen?

Using the term "frozen" in this context would be very confusing for a reader. It brings to my mind a picture of a lump of copper that's covered in hoar frost - which implies it would be at or below 0°C. That's not what you mean, I guess.

 

[Fig Neutron]

Using the term "frozen" in this context would be very confusing for a reader. It brings to my mind a picture of a lump of copper that's covered in hoar frost - which implies it would be at or below 0°C. That's not what you mean, I guess.

That’s correct, this was just a thought that I found interesting. I would not be likely to use the term “frozen” in this context, but I was wondering if it could technically be considered accurate. Even though it’s not the way people typically think of using “frozen” to describe a substance.

 

[StandardsGuy]

If you Google "freezing point of copper," several scientific articles come up, so I think it is an appropriate term. If I remember right, some materials have a slightly different freezing point than melting point. I doubt if copper is one of them, but water is. If you can find a "Handbook of Chemistry and Physics," it should list both points for many materials.

 

[PeterO]

This may be a dumb question (which is often the case for questions you come up with at 2 am), but I would like to ask anyway.

For substances that are liquid at room temperature there is a freezing point (point that it becomes a solid) lower than the average temperature of a room. For the purpose of this question I am just going to use water and copper for my examples.

When water reaches 0 degrees Celsius it transitions into a solid. At this point the water is considered frozen. The melting point for copper is about 1075 degrees Celsius. Now this next part is the part that sounds weird. Does that mean that at the typical room temperature, when copper is a solid, it would be considered frozen?

If water is considered “frozen” at the point that it becomes a solid, does that mean that copper is considered “frozen” at the point that it becomes a solid? Generally people think of something as being frozen when it feels cold to us, so I don’t know if the term “frozen” is one that should not be used for this type of description or if I am thinking about it wrong.

Thank you for reading and hopefully my question makes sense.

When I looked up frozen in my dictionary, it said "see freeze"
When I looked up freeze, it said "be converted to or covered with ice".
Ice is the name of solid water, not the name of solid copper, so frozen is a reference to Water becoming Solid.
( the next sentence in the definition was "become rigid as the result of cold". That might work for copper - as long as you thought 1075 degrees was cold.)