Why do full ice cube trays eventually sublimate into empty ones, yet frost accumulates on every other surface in the freezer?
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Have you observed that in the same freezer?
In my experience, ice cubes sublimate in frost-free freezers, where you have a lot of air circulation keeping everything dry and, well, frost-free.
On regular freezers, frost accumulates even over the ice cube trays, and the ice cubes stay there, albeit with a terrible taste.
On regular freezers, air moisture (from when you open the door, or from moist food before it freezes) get in contact with the cold surfaces and freeze there. On frost-free freezers, the circulating air prevents that to happen, but does the same to the ice cubes.
Have you observed that in the same freezer?
In my experience, ice cubes sublimate in frost-free freezers, where you have a lot of air circulation keeping everything dry and, well, frost-free.
On regular freezers, frost accumulates even over the ice cube trays, and the ice cubes stay there, albeit with a terrible taste.
On regular freezers, air moisture (from when you open the door, or from moist food before it freezes) get in contact with the cold surfaces and freeze there. On frost-free freezers, the circulating air prevents that to happen, but does the same to the ice cubes.
Have you observed that in the same freezer?
In my experience, ice cubes sublimate in frost-free freezers, where you have a lot of air circulation keeping everything dry and, well, frost-free.
On regular freezers, frost accumulates even over the ice cube trays, and the ice cubes stay there, albeit with a terrible taste.
On regular freezers, air moisture (from when you open the door, or from moist food before it freezes) get in contact with the cold surfaces and freeze there. On frost-free freezers, the circulating air prevents that to happen, but does the same to the ice cubes.
The frost accumulates on the sides where the freezer is coldest allowing any moisture to precipitate there while the ice cubes will have their water evaporated by the air currents.
The frost accumulates on the sides where the freezer is coldest allowing any moisture to precipitate there while the ice cubes will have their water evaporated by the air currents.
The frost accumulates on the sides where the freezer is coldest allowing any moisture to precipitate there while the ice cubes will have their water evaporated by the air currents.
It’s about the transfer of energy. The freezer is trying to get as much energy as it can outside of the freezer so the freezer can get cold. When ice freezes, it actually gives up energy called the latent heat (this happens with all phase changes). So if there’s a stray water molecule is in the air and makes it to somewhere cold, it could give up some energy and become ice. The most likely place for this to happen is the coldest part of the freezer which is the back where the cooling apparatus is. As ice forms on that, it makes it easy for ice to form in other places attached to thay until it lines the whole freezer.
As for the ice cubes sublimating. The transition between ice and gas happens all the time in a cold, dry environment like the freezer. However since the freezing portion is more likely to happen around the edges, eventually the ice cube will have lost some of their water molecules to those edges.
It’s about the transfer of energy. The freezer is trying to get as much energy as it can outside of the freezer so the freezer can get cold. When ice freezes, it actually gives up energy called the latent heat (this happens with all phase changes). So if there’s a stray water molecule is in the air and makes it to somewhere cold, it could give up some energy and become ice. The most likely place for this to happen is the coldest part of the freezer which is the back where the cooling apparatus is. As ice forms on that, it makes it easy for ice to form in other places attached to thay until it lines the whole freezer.
As for the ice cubes sublimating. The transition between ice and gas happens all the time in a cold, dry environment like the freezer. However since the freezing portion is more likely to happen around the edges, eventually the ice cube will have lost some of their water molecules to those edges.
The state of matter is a statistics game, especially at the surface. Molecules of water are always jiggling around a little bit, even when frozen solid. From time to time, one of the molecules will wiggle free from the ice crystals. That is basically what “sublimation” in your freezer is.
If you look at a phase diagram, you’ll see that there is no temperature at which water sublimates at 1 atmosphere of pressure. So the ice in your freezer isn’t making this phase transition in permanent way. The ice will just be deposited somewhere else as ice (frost in your freezer typically).
It’s about the transfer of energy. The freezer is trying to get as much energy as it can outside of the freezer so the freezer can get cold. When ice freezes, it actually gives up energy called the latent heat (this happens with all phase changes). So if there’s a stray water molecule is in the air and makes it to somewhere cold, it could give up some energy and become ice. The most likely place for this to happen is the coldest part of the freezer which is the back where the cooling apparatus is. As ice forms on that, it makes it easy for ice to form in other places attached to thay until it lines the whole freezer.
As for the ice cubes sublimating. The transition between ice and gas happens all the time in a cold, dry environment like the freezer. However since the freezing portion is more likely to happen around the edges, eventually the ice cube will have lost some of their water molecules to those edges.
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