Jim Hill wrote:
>
> James Carpenter <james.carpenter@ukaea.org.uk> wrote:
>
> > It's like the thing, if you put hot water out side it freeses
> > quicker than cold. Don't ask me why!
>
> Yet another urban legend that just will not die . . .
Actually it's not an urban legend, but like most of these things,
the nugget of science is lost in the middle.
In SMALL quantities of very quickly cooled water, hot water
will freeze more quickly. This is because the hot water has a
wider molecular spacing and more molecular motion, both of
which help in the formation of crystals. (which is what freezing
is after all)
Where sanity takes over is when there is a lot of water, say,
a bucket. A few isolated sites in the bucket might freeze quickly
because of the above, but the whole bucket is not going to freeze
until all of it's heat is lost into the air. This will take longer
than a similar but cooler bucket.
As always, the danger is with people who know a little of
the truth, but miss the point. Next time somebody puts on a wry
smile and says "what freezes first, hot water or cold", answer
with confidence, "it depends".
As for the rest of that post, James, man, you gotta spend more
time reading or less time posting. There is enough misinformation
in that post to create a used car salesman!
--
Trevor Boicey, Ottawa, Canada.
tboicey@brit.ca, http://www.brit.ca/~tboicey/
[ Seeking some miscellaneous MG parts, see the list on the web page... ]
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