How Hard Is It To Freeze Flowing Water?

Summary by Krater

The video explores whether flowing water can be frozen, testing supercooled water and investigating how fluid dynamics and mixing prevent flowing water from freezing.

From the video

Answers: Can you freeze flowing water?

• supercooled water
• nucleation point
• fluid dynamics
• freezing flowing water

What it concludes

• Water can be supercooled below 0 degrees Celsius without freezing if it lacks a nucleation point.
• Pouring supercooled water onto ice provides a nucleation point, causing it to freeze instantly.
• A water pump will freeze before the water itself when exposed to liquid nitrogen.
• Flowing or stirred water prevents ice crystals from forming because mixing with a larger body of water requires the entire body to reach 0 degrees Celsius before freezing.
• The theoretical limit for liquid water to form ice is -48 degrees Celsius, though practical experiments have achieved -40 to -42 degrees Celsius.