Supercooled Water Again

Under certain conditions you can cool water below the freezing mark without it turning to ice. In the winter I tend to forget a lot of bottles of water, pop and other stuff in my car which becomes supercooled. Once the liquid is disturbed instant ice is produced.

Here is a quick how to:

To make it work you need clean filtered water which is relatively pure. It will work with most liquids, like sodas and pops but water is the best.

Get a fresh bottle of store bought water but don't open the cap, the pressure in the bottle has a lot to do with it (saturated vapor pressure) and you want to keep it pure. This works best if the water is cooled to between -4 and -8C (24 - 17F). You can either put it in your freezer or outside assuming it is cold enough. Leave the water for about 2 - 3 hours (or more) and make sure it is relatively still, don't go disturbing it.

Once the water is ready you can either unscrew the top and try to drink it (instant slushy in your mouth) or you can touch the top of the bottle with an ice cube and the crystals will grow from top to bottom. If you don't want to open the bottle then give it a shake and watch what happens.

I had a 4L (1gal) jug of tap water in my trunk freeze when I knocked it over, now that was really cool!