Discovery Channel

Mythbusters Ice Test at Discovery Channel UK

Ice Test Experiment

How to test which temperature of water freezes faster (DCL)
ICE TEST
Can warm water freeze faster than cold water?
Surprisingly, yes it can.

To demonstrate it yourself you will need:
-two identical containers of the same size and shape
-access to cold water
-A kettle
-A freezer large enough to hold both of your containers

1. Fill each container with the same amount of water, but make sure that the initial temperature of the water in each container is slightly different - starting temperatures of 70 degrees centigrade and 30 degrees centigrade, respectively, work well. You could use water from the cold tap that has been allowed to stand at room temperature for 5 minutes and water that has been boiled in the kettle and allowed to cool for 3-5 minutes.

2. Put both containers in the freezer.

3. As the water in the containers cools, you will find that the container with the warmer water (70 degrees) will freeze faster than the container with the cooler water (at 30 degrees).

This defies immediate logic and even scientists are not in agreement about exactly how it happens. The main factors that are broadly agreed on are that freezing the hotter water affects its scientific properties.

For such an everyday substance, water is surprisingly complex and it doesn't always behave as expected. But at least we can prove one myth about it is true!
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