The Mpemba Effect offers a fascinating hypothesis – that warm water can freeze faster than cold water in some conditions. People on social media, in particular, found this very inspiring and stimulating. With much of the Northern hemisphere of the world currently in the grip of a cold wave, this was a social media trend just waiting to happen! We now have a bunch of Mpemba Effect videos going viral online. Here‘s what it is all about:
I will tell you without hesitation that I understood none of the science behind the Mpemba Effect – the enthalpy (new word for me) of the system, the recombination and ionization (who, what?!) etc. However, hot water freezing faster than cold water is apparently a thing! Many are convinced enough to try this… At times with rather interesting looking results!
I would imagine that when it is -30 or -40 degrees C where you like, life would be really depressing; that residents would have to find ways to enliven their days? Perhaps making videos such as these help with the vivifying?
So they toss warm or hot water up in the freezing air and it freezes really fast; raining down like a shower of instant snow. I have to admit that is rather cool (pun intended).
This video demonstrates the Mpemba Effect when warm liquid is expelled from the mouth – it turns into this instantly! Which leads me to the obvious question – what would happen with the ubiquitous Indian पान की पिचकारी (the stream of red ‘paan’ spit) in such circumstances?
The effect is best viewed in slow motion so this tweet decided to just give us the slow-mo action. Also, reverse mo!
When something like this becomes a trend, everyone thinks oh, I can do this too! Apparently, anyone and everyone can!
Yes, this is spectacular. But remember it's -30 or even lower where that guy is. It may seem freezing here in Delhi, but I know I should not try this here; neither should you!
It is not water turning to mist as we may think. The water is actually turning into tiny little icicles. As to why hot water freezes faster than cold water – presumably, she doesn’t understand either. I’m in good company!
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