Why does warm water freeze faster than cold?
I've noticed this myself with the ice cubes in the fridge and use warm water in the trays as a result even though I've had some people tell me I'm crazy, but I'd never bothered to look it up and sometimes wondered if I *was* imagining it since I have no practical way to test it.
Apparently britain is offering a science reward of 1000 english pounds to anyone who can prove it.
I kindof thought it had something to do with the speed that molecules in matter bounce around at. And if something becomes cold through a transfer of heat (really energy) from the (relative) "hot" to the (relative) "cold" and the molecules in warm water move faster than cold water, they can transfer the heat faster. And since it's a gradual progression starting outward in (based on observation and experience) the water in the middle remains warmer than the surrounding water instead of the *entire* body of water gradually rising in temperature, so the water in the middle continues to transfer heat quickly because the molecules in it are still moving faster. And I'm sure if the water started out significantly hotter in the first place, at some (unknown to me) temperature difference it will take longer than either the warm or cold water because it must make so much of a change from hot to cold that the molecular speed (albeit faster) no longer makes up for it. (Which makes me wonder if the increase in molecular speed increases linearly or exponentially, but I suspect that the CHANGE in increase in speed decreases as the temperature increases, which would explain why hot water does not seem to freeze as quickly as warm water does...) But I certainly can't prove it. And I have to go to work in a sec so I don't have time to research it now...
Apparently britain is offering a science reward of 1000 english pounds to anyone who can prove it.
I kindof thought it had something to do with the speed that molecules in matter bounce around at. And if something becomes cold through a transfer of heat (really energy) from the (relative) "hot" to the (relative) "cold" and the molecules in warm water move faster than cold water, they can transfer the heat faster. And since it's a gradual progression starting outward in (based on observation and experience) the water in the middle remains warmer than the surrounding water instead of the *entire* body of water gradually rising in temperature, so the water in the middle continues to transfer heat quickly because the molecules in it are still moving faster. And I'm sure if the water started out significantly hotter in the first place, at some (unknown to me) temperature difference it will take longer than either the warm or cold water because it must make so much of a change from hot to cold that the molecular speed (albeit faster) no longer makes up for it. (Which makes me wonder if the increase in molecular speed increases linearly or exponentially, but I suspect that the CHANGE in increase in speed decreases as the temperature increases, which would explain why hot water does not seem to freeze as quickly as warm water does...) But I certainly can't prove it. And I have to go to work in a sec so I don't have time to research it now...