Boiling Water Meets -45°F Air, Instantly Freezes [Video]

Very neat video, taken in Alaska, of boiling hot water thrown into what the uploaders say is -45°F air, creating a spectacular instant cloud.

Note that the YouTube video’s title is inaccurate: The boiling water isn’t evaporating, but is undergoing plain old freezing, albeit very fast freezing. According to the International Arctic Research Center, “Very hot or boiling water will freeze into tiny ice crystals almost instantly when tossed into frigid air (-30°F/-34°C) forming an icy mist. Boiling water is close to the point of vaporization into gas so it breaks into minute droplets when thrown into the cold air. The tiny droplets lose heat so quickly that they freeze almost instantly.”

(h/t Spluch)

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Robert Quigley