I heard about this thing called the Mpemba effect where hot water can freeze quicker than cold water under certain conditions. How does that even work?
In: Chemistry
The real answer is transitional energy. Water doesn’t actually freeze at 32°F, it STAYS frozen at 32. You need to cool it slightly below 32 to initialize the crystalization. This is the transitional energy. You also need impurities in the water but that’s an answer to a different question.
Hot water is less dense than cold water so it loses its heat proportionally faster. So when hot water reaches freezing temperature it has more momentum when it hits a point where the transition to a crystal would stall briefly were you to have started with colder water.
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