Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Instant Ice Magic - Water Bending




This seems like the perfect way to amuse yourself and amaze your friends on a warm summer day.  It's a little bit science and a little bit magic, and it's literally cool.  It's instant ice!

It's pretty nifty to watch as the water molecules align themselves into a giant ice crystal right before your eyes.  We all know that  water freezes at 32˚ F (0˚ C), but the truth is a little more complicated.  You see water crystals form most easily if they have another ice crystal to connect to.  Usually this process is started ("nucleation") by building onto an impurity in the water.  Very pure water can get into a metastable state that is still liquid while it is below freezing.  A good whack on the bottle is enough to start the process off and then the ice crystals start forming on each other and you get to watch as the ice crystal grows right in front of you.  Try it and enjoy.  Let us know how it goes.

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