Water Instantly Freezing in Cold Weather

This is an interesting clip of what happens when you throw very warm water into very cold air. This video was recorded in Ames, Iowa, on January 31st, 2013. The temperature at the time was 5 degrees Fahrenheit. Thanks for watching!


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• Category

  Science & Technology

[DEEREMEYER1]

That's really not "science". It's a demonstration of physical reality. And most of the water isn't freezing, it's evaporating due to the very low humidity of cold air. Try this at -10 to -20 and almost none of the water will hit the ground.

[Bryce Link]

Physics is a branch of science.

[DEEREMEYER1]

Throwing hot water in the air is not science. Was any data collected? Any theory tested? Am I a scientist when I heat a bolt to expand it and shrink it when it cools to make it easier to remove or just a diesel technician? Since I know what the result will be and I'm demonstrating a known fact, I'm not conducting science. I know "science" is in and lots of people think every YouTube video demonstration of a known phenomenon is "science". It's not.

[Bryce Link]

Does being cynical dickhead all the time hurt? Like physically hurt? Yes. It is science. Observation is a part of science. Testing theory (which this is) is a part of science. No, we are not collecting data. No, I do not plan on writing a peer reviewed paper to demonstrate why this happens. If you don't have anything constructive to add to this video, take your comments elsewhere.

[Sebol811]

I wonder if you can use a pressure washer. And hot water. will spoil if not pressure washer. Or some, compressor water. Alternatively, connect a garden hose to the tap. and garden sprinkler.Sprinklers for flowers.Maybe then would work as a generator of fog or something.

[Bryce Link]

The pressure washer idea is interesting. A lot of them use extremely hot water so it would probably work pretty well.

[Ger Lee]

looks like hot steam going up and water flew out across

[DEEREMEYER1]

The water is under pressure and exits the tip of the power washer wand and is mostly vaporized already. You'll get way more loss to evaporation and all most no liquid water "freezing" in mid-air with a power washer. I've had to wash equipment outside in the extreme cold so I've seen the results.

[DEEREMEYER1]

It's not the temperature of the air, it's the humidity level that creates this phenomenon more than anything. The majority of the water is evaporating, not freezing. If there's too much humidity in the air to start with, this doesn't work well.

[AtarahDerek]

Note the water was boiling. This helps it freeze faster as it reduces the amount of air dissolved in the water, meaning crystals can be small and compact, and thereby collect faster.

[IMMATURENGINEERING]

Ha ha ha, you have a Tampax commercial on your vid

[jeffsomer]

AWESOME. I tried that (and took a video) a couple of weeks ago when it was 0 degrees and it didn't work