ELI5; How does keeping your faucets dripping in freezing weather keep your pipes from freezing?

Question

ELI5; How does keeping your faucets dripping in freezing weather keep your pipes from freezing?

In: 1

Answer 1

Moving/flowing water is harder to freeze than still water. Since freezing is the “slowing” of a liquids molecules, it is harder to “slow” them if the liquid is in motion.

Wether or not a drip is enough movement to make a difference is another thing as even moving water will freeze if cold enough and a drip is hardly fast movement, but that is the scientific reasoning behind it, in its most simple form.