Ever try this when it's really cold out?

[Coldfront]

I showed my kids last year and they couldn't believe it. You have to do it when it is really cold like well below zero. Take a pot of boiling water like about 1 gallon take it outside and throw it up in the air, nothing will ever touch the ground, just a puff of steam goes up in the air. I even did it with just real steaming hot tap water from the kitchen sink. Do it over fresh snow and it will verify nothing will come down and touch the ground.

 

[powerstroke73L]

Boiling water freezes faster-that's why Zambonis use 160 degree F water to make ice. Boiling water is already giving up its heat in the form of hot vapor already-that's why when you remove a boiling pot of water from a heat source it stops boiling immediately because the heat energy is leaving so quickly the water does not stay at 212 degrees even a second. When you introduce boiling water to extreme cold it gives up all of it's heat so fast that it freezes even faster.

 

[Coldfront]

I don't know if it is freezing, but it turns into a vapor cloud immediately and nothing ever comes down to the ground.

 

[powerstroke73L]

I don't know if it is freezing, but it turns into a vapor cloud immediately and nothing ever comes down to the ground.

The vapor cloud you're seeing is frozen just like the vapor cloud that you see coming out of your month which is produced by moisture in your lungs.

 

[ropensaddle]

I don't know if it is freezing, but it turns into a vapor cloud immediately and nothing ever comes down to the ground.

One small pot for man one giant leap to prevent global warming

 

[Jredsjeep]

interesting right in time for this cold snap

 

[jcappe]

OK, I've got to at least try it -15 should do the trick

 

[Philbert]

It's fun to do, even for us older kids. It's funny how it works with boiling water, but not cooler water. It's been explained to me, but still does not seem to make sense.

Today on the news, they were hammering nails into boards with a frozen banana.

Philbert
-20 something in Minnesota

 

[Austin1]

I can still write my name in the snow when it's cold.

 

[Nailsbeats]

Never done it, but I'm going to give it a try. You know the weather here and it's plenty cold.

 

[powerstroke73L]

I can still write my name in the snow when it's cold.

Here's a thought-how cold does it have to be to freeze the "ink" in mid air?
:monkey:

 

[coog]

Boiling water freezes faster-that's why Zambonis use 160 degree F water to make ice. Boiling water is already giving up its heat in the form of hot vapor already-that's why when you remove a boiling pot of water from a heat source it stops boiling immediately because the heat energy is leaving so quickly the water does not stay at 212 degrees even a second. When you introduce boiling water to extreme cold it gives up all of it's heat so fast that it freezes even faster.

I've seen this argued many times before.This is a good site:

http://itotd.com/articles/521/water-freezing-and-boiling-myths

I believe Zambonis use hot water to melt the surface of the ice to give it a smoother surface.

 

[Coldfront]

Here's a thought-how cold does it have to be to freeze the "ink" in mid air?
:monkey:

I think if I pee'd off the roof of my one story house it would be frozen before it hit the ground. Maybe I'll try that when cabin fever sets in.

 

[Windwalker7]

I read somewhere, that your spit will freeze, before it hits the ground, at -40* or below.

 

[CentaurG2]

Jack London to build a fire 1902…. I think

 

[David Wayne]

Here's a thought-how cold does it have to be to freeze the "ink" in mid air?
:monkey:

I would be afraid of freezing the pen if were that cold

 

[David Wayne]

I showed my kids last year and they couldn't believe it. You have to do it when it is really cold like well below zero. Take a pot of boiling water like about 1 gallon take it outside and throw it up in the air, nothing will ever touch the ground, just a puff of steam goes up in the air. I even did it with just real steaming hot tap water from the kitchen sink. Do it over fresh snow and it will verify nothing will come down and touch the ground.

It will come down--somewhere in the form of snow, And I just cleaned the driveway. So STOP DOING THAT

 

[powerstroke73L]

I've seen this argued many times before.This is a good site:
http://itotd.com/articles/521/water-freezing-and-boiling-myths

Hot water freezes faster than cold water. Most experts say that, all things being equal, cold water freezes faster. However, things are not always equal. A curious phenomenon known as the Mpemba effect can, under some very specific (and poorly understood) circumstances, result in hot water freezing faster than cold water. One of the several possible explanations for this effect involves evaporation: if you start with extremely hot water, a good bit of it will evaporate (and a smaller quantity of water will freeze faster than a larger quantity). And so, according to chemists, this one is not a myth, and this is presumably what my high school chemistry assignment was getting at.

The italicized portion is correct. Surface area is key here. Of course a pot of boiling water is not going to freeze solid when placed in a cold environment. Water itself stores heat pretty effectively and will hold onto it. Therefore when some of the water leaves in the form of vapor, it will take heat with it. So when you take a large container of very hot water and put it in a freezer you end up with a large amount of stored heat (the liquid water) and a comparatively smaller amount of heat leaving the water contained in the water vapor. In the case of Zambonis (and when you toss a pot of hot water into the air) you expose the water over a huge surface area. As a result it doesn't have much heat to give up before it freezes.

I believe Zambonis use hot water to melt the surface of the ice to give it a smoother surface.

That's also part of it in addition to freezing faster. It's also why there is a terrycloth towel that drags behind the machine-it smooths the water which makes for smooth ice. I should know since I've been driving one for 10 years

 

[AIM]

Okay boys and girls here are the results of my attempt.

Steaming tap water in a plastic cup(probably 130° 140°)(about 6 ounces)

4° above zero with very little wind

Whipped it into the air and droplets came back down.

boohoo I'm such a failure

I'll see what the temp is later tonight and try again.

 

[Locoweed]

Isn't it a pain when facts interfere with a good tale?