Boiling water vs. cold air ❄️ #chemistry #science #water #clouds #ice #water #boilingwaterchallenge

Why does throwing boiling hot water into cold air cause ice clouds?

WARNING: If trying this experiment on your own, be certain to NEVER throw the boiling water into the wind. Make sure the water is thrown with the wind, away from you (In addition to keeping you safe, this also creates a much more beautiful effect). By the way, having the cloud backlit by the sun helps to accentuate the beauty of the experiment as well.

Why does throwing boiling hot water into cold air cause ice clouds? The boiling water has a very high vapor pressure, which causes a lot of the liquid to evaporate into the air. But the air is very cold! So when the gaseous water hits the frigid air, it recondenses back into tiny liquid microdroplets of water. These microdroplets are so cold that some of them freeze into tiny particles of ice. These tiny microdroplets of ice and water can be seen as steamy striations that eject from the hot liquid blobs.

Another aspect of the hot water that helps this experiment is lower surface tension. Boiling water has lower surface tension than room temperature water. This fact allows the hot water to spread out into streams and tiny blobs, which increases the surface area of liquid water in contact with the air. More surface area contact means more beautiful, icy striations streaking through the air.

This experiment touches on many concepts in physics and chemistry including the phase changes of water, surface tension, vapor pressure, and increased kinetics due to increased surface area contact.

Видео Boiling water vs. cold air ❄️ #chemistry #science #water #clouds #ice #water #boilingwaterchallenge канала Tommy Technetium