The frozen water bottle mystery. Can you solve it?

[crazyhorse]

This is interesting.
So lets hear your thoughts/comments please.

http://www.sootoday.com/content/news/fu ... mber=50683

[1972hiboy]

ive had this happen to my schlitz beer when I was setting the temp on my rv fridge. I popped the top and it was liquid the second I went to tip it up for a drink BAM instand slurpy. then proceeded to overflow the can with ice beer. kinda disapointed....I wanted the beer.

[PhyrPh0enix]

Water freezes at 0ºC. If the temperature of water is allowed to reach below freezing, it will crystalize. However, it first requires a seed crystal. A seed crystal can form around anything like a microscopic speck of dust or a bubble. since still water has no bubbles, and won't have reached to the empty neck of the bottle where dust might reside, seed crystals cannot form and the water will not crystalize - no matter how cold it is. Further, the crystallization of water is an exothermic reaction, so while any liquid water remains, the entire solution remans at 0º - not a degree more; not a degree less. This is regardless of the ambient temperature. The heat given off by the formation of water crystals is fairly insignificant, but enough to keep a 12oz, STILL, UNDISTURBED bottle unfrozen. It can be overcome though, by rapidly crystalizing water, its exothermic properties cannot suppress the entire reaction. This is partially why the water is not frozen solid at first, but mostly slush.



-Vince