Monday, December 12, 2011

Chemistry Question

Okay, science-minded friends, I have a question for you about the world around us.  I experienced an interesting phenomenon yesterday.

I have had a water bottle (of the plastic, disposable variety... I know, awful) in my car for a few days.  I have observed it with curiosity as I scrape ice off my car each morning, because it remained half-full (I'm an optimist) of liquid water, despite sitting outside for hours in freezing temperatures.  (We get into the 20s at night.)

Yesterday morning, I was thirsty, so I decided to drink it.  I opened it -- and watched a whiteness spread from the top of the water through all the liquid as it froze into a soft slush.  I have no idea how this happened.  Why did the water not freeze over the past few nights?  Was it exposure to the air or a change in pressure that caused the freezing, or something else entirely?

4 comments:

  1. I agree! But sometimes both scientists and theologians discount such theories.

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  2. While this isn't a crazy scientific answer, here's a youtube video of the same phenomena you described. It looks like your water flash froze -- the temperature must have dropped very rapidly below freezing and needed the agitation (or exposure to water or water crystals in the air) to begin the process of crystallization.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgcVnP1A5II

    Love and joy!
    Anna

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  3. That looks just like what happened!

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