Posted: 10/20/2004 8:41:43 PM EDT
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Which is correct? Water freezes at 32 degrees farenheit. Ice melts at 32 degrees farenheit. |
When someone says, "I need to come" does not mean the same thing as when they say, "I need to go." |
An educated one. Yes sir. It depends on which direction you're coming from. If ice moves from 31 to 32 degrees, it starts melting. If water moves from 33 to 32 degrees, it starts freezing. Just a trivia question. 
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Liquid water won't go below 32 F. It becomes crystalized (ice) if it continues to lose heat to the surrounding medium. Likewise, "ice" won't go above 32 F. It becomes water if it gains more heat. Disclaimer: But there are unusual circumstances when "water" can be forced to go below 32F or even go above boiling temp and still exist as liquid water. |
unusual as in being at some condition other than standard temp and pressure (STP)? then there is sublimation Sin_Bin whats up with the weird questions |
This is also assuming sea level. |
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neither. water at 32*F will remain water until more heat energy is taken away and the molecules slow down enough to solidify ice at 32*F will remain ice until more heat energy is added to it melt it. if ice water is kept at exactly 32*F, the water will remain water and the ice will remain ice. |
That's it, you can have ice or water at 32 degrees F, if you add or remove energy, you can get it to change states. I can't remeber what the actual number is for the transformation, but I do believe it can be measured in calories. |
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All water will melt at 32 degrees farneheit (though because of latent heat, you actually have to add extra energy to actually make the molecules come apart). But 32 degrees is not necessarily the freezing point. When planes high in the atmosphere start collecting ice on the wings, it is because of super-cooled water droplets. They are actually much colder than 32 degrees, but don't freeze until they come in contact with something. I think I heard that some high-altitude water droplets, such as in a thunderstorm, can be as cold as -8 degrees and not freeze, though I might be wrong on the exact temperature. Overview: 32 degrees Farenheit is the melting point, but NOT the freezing point. There is no fixed freezing point. |
Neither is correct. They are both approximations. The freezing point of pure water at one atmosphere pressure is 32 F. The freezing point is the solid and liquid phases exist in equilibrium. It is no big trick to change the freezing point of water. All you have to do is dissolve something in it. Common examples: Salt on roadways, ethylene glycol in your radiator, and sugar in ice cream. Even pure water will go slightly below 32 F without freezing if there is nothing to seed the crystallization. |