How to Supercool Water: A SciShow Experiment
Water doesn't always freeze when it's supposed to. Learn about supercooling, and how to supercool a bottle of water at home -- and then turn it to ice instantly!
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At standard pressure, water freezes at zero degrees Celsius and boils at 100 degrees. Standard science, right? I mean, the freezing and boiling points of water are how we define the entire Celsius temperature scale. Except that water doesn’t always freeze when it’s supposed to. When the conditions are just right, you can put a bottle of water in the freezer for hours, and it won’t turn to ice... … until you make it. That’s because liquids are subject to a special, weird state known as supercooling, when the liquid is below its freezing point, but doesn’t solidify. Liquids don't just suddenly become solid at a certain temperature. There's a process involved, and it has to do with how molecules line up. Whether something is a solid, liquid, or gas at constant pressure...
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At standard pressure, water freezes at zero degrees Celsius and boils at 100 degrees. Standard science, right? I mean, the freezing and boiling points of water are how we define the entire Celsius temperature scale. Except that water doesn’t always freeze when it’s supposed to. When the conditions are just right, you can put a bottle of water in the freezer for hours, and it won’t turn to ice... … until you make it. That’s because liquids are subject to a special, weird state known as supercooling, when the liquid is below its freezing point, but doesn’t solidify. Liquids don't just suddenly become solid at a certain temperature. There's a process involved, and it has to do with how molecules line up. Whether something is a solid, liquid, or gas at constant pressure...
