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Re: [Phys-l] sudden Vacuum freezing



On May 7, 2007, at 1:41 PM, fred bucheit wrote:

Years ago I needed some ice for an experiment the following day in Physics
class. I placed some water in a standard ice cube tray (back then it was
aluminum with a removeable aluminum divider) and left for the day. The next
morning I opened the freezer compartment of the refrigerator and pulled out
the tray. To my disappointment, the water did not freeze. I decided to pour
it down a drain on the other side of the room. As I walked across the room I
happened to look at the tray and I thought I saw something moving in the
water. It was then I realized that it had supercooled and I was watching the
crystallization of the water. How many times in a lifetime does one see that
by accident?

It is actually a LOT easier to view than you'd expect. A friend of my wife discovered by accident that she could repeatedly and surprisingly reliably view the process simply by placing a plastic bottle of water in the freezer overnight, taking it out the next day, and manipulating it a little. She took a video of it that now sits at the following link on our demo web site.

<http://parallax.sci.csupomona.edu/e107/video_demo/super_cool_h2o/ super_cool_h2o_v1.1.html>

John Mallinckrodt

Professor of Physics, Cal Poly Pomona
<http://www.csupomona.edu/~ajm>

and

Lead Guitarist, Out-Laws of Physics
<http://outlawsofphysics.com>