How to Supercool Water: A SciShow Experiment

[@dattmougherty_5392]

You can do with yourself since we're mostly water. I sat in the freezer for a good 2.51 hours and when I got out I was still mostly water. I then had my friend slam me into a wall and I became ice for about 8 hours. So it's fun but a little time consuming.

[@fbi3233]

Oh... Oh Lord

[@1cool]

but if you did that you would die because you would be too cold . and the ice

[@BenSchappacher]

R/woooosh

[@harshitvarma7867]

@@BenSchappacher he got a point

[@anukritisrivastav3271]

Ok that's dumb

[@Ghost_Of_SAS]

When it comes to making water supercool, I thought a pair of sunglasses, a reverse baseball cap and a pair of reebok pumps would do the trick.

[@pikalink6450]

You sir, deserve a cookie.

[@Ghost_Of_SAS]

pikalink64 * om nom *

[@telephonedude]

Ghost81 Fun observation: out of all the comments here, "* om nom *" is the only one offering me a live translation.

[@Ghost_Of_SAS]

telephonedude Same here. I clicked it and it translated from: * om nom * to * Om nom * Thanks Google.

[@Supermanohman]

and a cigarette because cool kids smoke.

[@EPATZ]

This happened to me when I was camping in the desert. I didn't realize how cold it was and opened my bottle in the morning and it froze in my mouth and throat. When I looked back at the bottle it was frozen solid. Thank you for explaining this!

[@bdubble1967]

I was fascinated by this after a 20 year mystery of what I personally experienced. I had one of those blue plastic bottles with children's kool aid in it in the freezer. When I took it out, it froze in my hand before my eyes! I wasn't sure if I imagined it for all these years.

[@TheStoneSpiral]

I learned about super cooled water on the discovery channel when I was a kid. And when I told my mom about it later, she told me to stop making things up. I feel vindicated now.

[@gmmkeshav]

:d hahaa

[@Thatoneguy-qm8vx]

Take that mom

[@jomillen5131]

I'm kinda the same lol, but I'm doing it to prove myself.

[@harshitvarma7867]

Yes that street genius show

[@Damond_Warrior]

You should’ve pulled it off in front of her

[@HalcyonSerenade]

I accidentally supercooled a bottle of apple juice in my mini-fridge with the temperature set too low. I didn't realize how cold the fridge had been set to, so I was shocked when I poured the juice into a cup and it started freezing into a weird slush. Like a mostly-melted apple snow cone.

[@SoundSpeed99]

😋

[@gigachad3113]

apple juice icecream in a cup noice

[@ingamelevi1929]

Honestly sounds delicious

[@Cleeon]

It some of good tricks for lunchtime

[@xelgringoloco2]

I'm going to supercool water in a glass, put my finger in it and let the ice form around my finger.

[@emko333]

***** it will be fine its not going to freeze solid its a mushy ice.

[@RomanNumural9]

Don't worry, water doesn't expand at all when frozen :P

[@emko333]

haha

[@emko333]

***** i thought you where being sarcastic :(

[@ohbbyilikeitrawr]

It's slushy I've not hard ice. It makes a slushy

[@MstrJediKyle]

So this is why can of soda sometimes don't freeze until you open them. I learned something today!

[@maribakumon]

His ear lobes jiggle when he moves...

[@ghudner]

Thanks. Now all I can look at is his ear lobes :P

[@santiago24601]

glad i'm not the only one that notice it.

[@rez8836]

I thought you were just being funny, then I actually looked at them and laughed really hard

[@masterofmundus1304]

+maribakumon He's got gauges dude

[@queendeebs2562]

twerking lobes

[@mckennacisler01]

I first heard of this phenomenon in chemistry, when we were _boiling_ water. Our teacher actually warned us to put "boiling stones" into the round-bottom flasks when we heated them, because otherwise the liquid could superheat and then boil all at once, apparently resulting in an explosion of the flask. My teacher said that he would actually scrape the bottom of new flasks (he actually thought it was unfortunate to scratch such pristine glass work,) so that we couldn't do this.

[@MoonShoesPatty]

How to make supercool water: 1. Pour some water in a cup. 2. Put really dark sunglasses on the cup. Super cool.

[@adnanabid8677]

MoonShoesPatty-supercolly FUNNY😂😂😂

[@fbi3233]

people who say FUNNY disturb me

[@McKiyato]

@@fbi3233 FUNNY

[@fbi3233]

@@McKiyato i hate you

[@McKiyato]

@@fbi3233 👩‍🦰🐔🎀 FANNY

[@vincentdujardin7322]

Watching this in 2021 and boy am I happy with the evolution this dude has made over the years 😅

[@borkalina]

"Which is super cool...! Get it...?! Heh."

[@noel9817]

lol

[@benmoussayoucef4699]

i finally find some one who explained this phenomenen very well, thank you so much.

[@BucketHeadMC]

What happens if you drink super cooled water? Does it freeze inside of you or does it heat up too fast that nothing happens?

[@RikoLime]

Well if youve ever watched other videos about this, you know that first, even opening the container without causing it to form ice is extremely hard. I once watched a lengthy video on a tutorial of how to make "instant slushie" using supercooled water. The guy had some 20-something bottles to use, and only about 3 of them didnt instantly freeze due to some event before opening them. If you even managed to get that far, I would assume, seeing as how it takes any slight movement or jostling of the liquid to make it form ice - that it would form into ice bits when it hits your tongue or enters your mouth, especially since your mouth is full of food particles and bacteria. If it didnt, and somehow did make it down your throat, pinching the whole way through your muscles and beginning of your digestive system - into your stomach, it would hit a liquidy mess within your stomach that is hotter than your outside. In other words, on the very rare chance that it does make it to your stomach, it wouldnt freeze, because its like adding a cup of cold water and hot water together - all you do is make warm water. Now.. you might have a slight tummy ache from the sudden shift in temperature, but thats your own fault. (Keep in mind your body needs anything in your stomach to be body-temperature to digest). Ive had really hot soup with really cold soda before. It DOES kinda cause tummy upsets. The shift in temp.

[@Tyngdlyftning1]

***** don't drink it! It's dangerous. Seriously. It doesn't contain any minerals so you'll die if you drink too much distilled water. Water posioning will happen alot faster than with normal water.

[@logwell1]

***** lie

[@danheidel]

Dr. Astrô Nauth You have to drink a ridiculous amount of distilled water for it to be harmful.

[@Wourghk]

Dr. Astrô Nauth Well, your body does need the minerals, but you won't poison yourself by drinking distilled water. It still works like water as far as your body is concerned. If you find yourself unable to get mineral water, but have an ample supply of mineral supplements and distilled water, well, you'll be just fine.

[@peytonwalters8192]

Did this at home. Absolutely incredible result.

[@Zenniverse]

The SciShow is a beacon of hope for intelligence on the Internet.

[@EbonysBlaze]

That pun earned my like

[@IvexRodriguez]

Oh... I didn't know it had a name for that! Happens a lot in my house, I take the bottle of water out of the freezer still liquid, pour it to the glass then it starts to freeze in front of me... So "cool" :)

[@elisebelanger8068]

A very interesting phenomenon happened when I was in the desert. We took our cold bottles of water out of the fridge (not a freezer) and when we shook our bottles they would freeze into a slushie. Add a 3in1 coffee packet and for us Canadians it was instant Ice Capp in Afghanistan. Pretty cool .... literally.

[@RoyBatty03]

Amazing! Thanks Sci Show

[@ItsShatter]

The freezer compartment in my mini fridge is at the perfect temperature so that anywhere from 3-6 hours after putting in a room temperature bottle of water, it is super chilled and will freeze into a slushy consistency when shook. It’s pretty nice always having ice-cold water on hands, and it keeps itself ice cold for about an hour or so after freezing over 🥶 I tried chugging it once without it freezing over first and it actually started to freeze in my mouth/ esophagus which was an extremely odd sensation and probably presents a choking hazard, be cautious if you try it yourself. I also noticed that the texture of super chilled water is extremely soft-looking and moves a bit differently than non-super chilled water. Which was weird and got me thinking about what the molecular interactions of super chilled water molecules in a liquid form must look like. Also, when I showed my mom/ other friends it blew their minds, which was fun

[@Countcho]

i will impress someone with this in the future

[@epiccrazygummybears]

Oobleck. I love it and it's so simple to make, but so mysterious to play with.

[@Beastlynerd329]

Now the only thing left to do is super-cool my enemies

[@TheSquishey]

What the fuck dude

[@baladan7433]

Chill

[@akshayisr]

Did this twice, once by accident and I was amazed and again just to prove to others that it really happens...

[@Astrones808]

That happened to me once with a bottle of Mt dew. I put it in the freezer, then when I took it out I accidentally dropped it. Instant popsicle! I thought I was a magician... thanks for ruining that for me scishow :P

[@TurtleJen]

But don't magicians use science?

[@largehoman]

No, scientists use science... magicians use magic... hence the names.

[@nathanielpillar8012]

But it supposedly only works with pure water. How could it happen with mountain dew?

[@goldwolf0606]

That was a cool episode! I learned of that process in school, but to actually see it in action, BAD ASS... 2 thumbs up!

[@Pandafaust11]

I've had a beer turn into a slushie this way.

[@JohnTheJoint]

+crapstirrer A beer slushie...that sounds revolting

[@jarv7441]

It really is.

[@AS-xz3pk]

you can do that with cider, and if you drain the liquid from the ice, it will concentrate the alcohol, thats called applejack, its stronger but it'll give you a hellacious hangover

[@empichel5690]

This happened with my frozen juice! It was in the freezer for days. I'm surprised sugar and flavor didn't provide nucleation sites! The little ice bits looked like mold for a minute, I was freaking out that my freezer broke and was so relieved when the freeze spread! It froze a lot slower than supercooled beer does

[@psi9343]

What if I opened the bottle very delicately the drank it? Would it freeze inside me?

[@KWolf2013]

I am not a scientist but I think your body temperature would raise the temperature of the water quickly enough that that wouldn't be a problem.

[@fuzzygreen3634]

it would become ice before you could take a gulp

[@ohbbyilikeitrawr]

You would warm it and it wouldn't be supercool temp anymore.

[@camelCaseFTW]

you should try it and tell me how it went

[@Sinonyx1]

it would freeze inside your mouth. but it doesn't freeze into a solid ice cube like you're thinking, it freezes into a slush

[@tubaforeva]

I really love Michael's videos more than Hank's. Is is just me? I find it so much easier to follow what Michael is saying and I rewind the videos a lot less, whereas in Hank's videos I'm struggling to keep up and keep rewinding different parts of the video because I'm slow and don't understand his rapid talk straight away. I still love Hank though. And Michael. Probably Michael more

[@imexclusiv9742]

It's just you... Just you........

[@elliottmcollins]

Yeah, Hank expresses enthusiasm by making everything sound _urgent._ I can see how it could get stressful. I like 'em both.

[@thejerrymobile]

Yeah, but what about the purified water requirement not explaining why this also works with beer? (for the benefit of those just discovering this phenomenon, this also works with beer)

[@ghuegel]

It's probably because the beer is passed through a fine enough filter so that there aren't any particles large enough to act as nucleation sites.

[@Toshikills]

There is no purified water requirement. Its just that impurities in the water are likely to form nucleation sites. I didn't know you could do this with beer though.

[@DM3x13]

beer has alcohol which freezes at a much cooler temp

[@ghuegel]

Drew M Beer's usually ~5% alcohol. It'll freeze a few degrees below 0, which shouldn't be a problem for a normal freezer. Hard liquor, OTOH, will not freeze in a normal freezer.

[@thejerrymobile]

ghuegel That seems plausible, but I suppose it depends on the properties of your unpurified water by comparison! On the other hand, it is also possible to achieve a similar effect with soft drinks, although there is a much smaller temperature window as their sugar content obviously creates ample nucleation opportunity.

[@LisasLab]

Great episode! I love the way you people at SciShow present scientific subjects in such a vivid way. You are my role-models :) Thank you for doing what you do. Greetings from Berlin, Lisa

[@MilanKarakas]

99% of people will fail to supercool the water. You just did not explain the MAIN ingredient. Science in progress, working on new video. Stay tuned.

[@bluemoon1992]

The water at my high school would always do this. Instead of slamming the bottle we would just open it and it causes the ice crystals to form. The chemistry teachers loved to explain and show us supercooled water. They also added the pun because science is never above puns.

[@TheWulf899]

I wonder if you can drink this stuff and create Ice cubes in your stomach. Would that have any side-effects?

[@tangledwires]

If you drank a glass of cola afterwards you would be employed as a fountain machine at mcdevil's. other than that you'll be cool.

[@ShadowKionic]

even if that could work you would just end up frost biting your insides and would eventually kill you since you would due to the disturbance freeze your throat, mouth, stomach, and maybe even some of the intestinal lining if it made it that far and many other areas of your body. yes it would VERY likely have side affects...that being you 6 feet under. but do try it and tell us the results :D

[@TheWulf899]

ShadowKionic but the rest of the water in your body wouldn't be below zero, right? I don't think this'd end up like a matthew reilly book...

[@ShadowKionic]

TheWulf899 well thats before the water even contacts the water in your body. Your mouth and throat are lined with something else, and you don't hit core temperature water till about your stomach. But the reaction is almost instant so it would most likely freeze your throat to the point the muscles wouldn't even let you breath and you would suffocate before freezing your core temp.

[@Erik_Dz]

The drinking super cooled water is no more dangerous than gulping down a slushie. the water doesnt instantly become a solid block it becomes more of a slush. Worst case you get a brain freeze.

[@stevenhenault3984]

I've done this with bottles of beer, it really works. This was also on Myth Busters, and the explained it and showed it happening the same way as this episode! Cheers Sci Show!

[@joshuakim4493]

...yeah it's awesome and really interesting...especially when it happens in your mouth and throat. Had a few water bottles sitting in my car during winter. Freezing temperatures outside and i was about to head to work. I needed to take me meds at that time and so guess what? i grabbed that bottle of water and drank from it. once i started drinking it i noticed that it was becoming hard to swallow, thinking it was the tablet...nope, the damned water crystallized right in my mouth and throat...damn near almost choked...but was so fucking awesome. now the part i don't get is how that happened. It was the same bottle i had drank from during that week so it already had things in it that could cause the nucleation...but it didn't...until i drank it that one, awesome morning. and it was not even purified water. so i just so happened to make this work by some chance and diving intervention from the ice god of ancient greek or viking...idk

[@folksyoxytocin]

Your pun just made my day so much better.

[@ThreeMuskeQueerz]

WHY DOES IT ITCH

[@karozans]

I have found that Gatorade G2 is really easy to supercool. The really smooth inside of the bottle and the added electrolytes make the perfect conditions to supercool the liquid.

[@matiaselizalde7051]

The likes on the "super cool" jokes are going to be Below Zero HA!

[@chillsahoy2640]

In contrast, you can also superheat liquids under similar conditions, and it has the same effect but instead of being unable to form into a solid, the liquid is unable to form into a gas until it forms a nucleation site. I found out about this when making agarose gel...here's a tip: make sure the Duran bottle is pointed *away* from you when you swirl it, unless you want boiling agarose gel to splash you in the face.

[@JessRushworth]

Does warm water really freeze faster?

[@imexclusiv9742]

No it takes longer...duh

[@IceMetalPunk]

Not at all.

[@elliottmcollins]

No, sorry. This notion came about because hot water _cools_ faster, so a cup that's twice as hot will take less than twice the time to freeze, but still takes longer to get to zero. Temperature changes faster when the teperature differences are higher. Put cups of water at 100C and 50C in the freezer and the hot cup will get to 50C much faster than the cool cup will get to 0C. People then intuitively think the hot water has some "momentum" at that point and will get from 50 to 0 really quickly, but in fact follows the same path from 50 to 0 as a cup that started at 50.

[@ferafish213]

Most of the time the warm water will freeze slower. Sometimes, though, it does freeze faster. It's called the Mpemba Effect, and while it is being studied, they haven't figured out why yet.

[@elliottmcollins]

Fera Fish Boy, I stand corrected. Awesome. This is a great story, too. SciShow should do a thing on it. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mpemba_effect#Mpemba.27s_observation

[@TrueBookWorm]

You're joke at the end was adorable >

[@fakjbf]

0:16 FALSE!!!! The Celsius scale is defined by absolute zero being -273.15 and the triple point of Venetian Mean Standard Ocean Water (highly purified and controlling for the ratios of different isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen) being 0.01

[@sizor3ds]

no thats the kelvin scale.

[@niazomatic]

Actually it's the other way around. The Kelvin scale was created from the Celsius scale. That is why water freezes at exactly 0 degrees celsius and boils at 100 degrees celsius.

[@Goofysoccer]

Millad Bahrami No that's the Celsius scale. In Celsius, absolute zero is -273.15 degrees. In Kelvin, absolute zero is zero degrees. Kelvin is just Celsius+273.15. fakjbf is correct. Saying the standard measurement for freezing and boiling water in Celsius is 0 and 100 is just a common misconception taught in schools.

[@TheGuyWhoIsSitting]

GoofysoccerGame "In Kelvin, absolute zero is zero degrees." Nitpick, but Kelvin is absolute, so there is no "degrees kelvin".

[@cwdrules5850]

lol good try bro

[@RavenwolfFoxtrack]

Have done this a lot for years now. Cool to know the science behind it now.

[@SkullWaneVideos]

After eating my long JOHN I would like to clean myself with a HANKerchief.

[@Yasmeentea]

Very punny. XD

[@devinwarner4034]

Ba dum dum tisssss

[@p00ky76]

devin warner interesting you should mention this, I was wondering the other day who invented the bad joke drum roll :)

[@devinwarner4034]

p00ky76 Whoever he is, that man is a genius.

[@p00ky76]

devin warner Agreed :D

[@JosephDavies]

I just had this happen completely by accident! I've never successfully done this experiment before. It was really cool.

[@purplebootsgames]

What happens if you put your finger in the water and then have it freeze

[@megajimmyhat6333]

Your finger will be cold...

[@bears8503]

this aint minecraft boi

[@tanyag2369]

I loved that joke at the end. It really cracked me up!!!

[@litojonny]

why does the hair around my anus grow so quickly?

[@amadeusvonbeethoven6901]

Because you're a hairy manly man

[@kuso9757]

2014 youtube be wildin

[@paulherman5327]

I love this experiment and like how water can change to a solid just like that

[@etomicbomb1753]

Srsly, super cool?

[@michaellewis1671]

Dear SciShow: Loved this video, reminded me of Kurt Vonnegut. Please please look up what Ice-nine is and tell us about is scientific feasibility.

[@demon11989]

Michael Aranda has gotten really good at making these videos (speaking/orating..etc...) Do you remember when he first started covering for Hank? He had such a tiny monotonous voice....He's really improved, cheers!

[@johnnyray9107]

You made this entire episode just to make that joke, didn't you I love it

[@freehigh5861]

I love you Michael!

[@AltarenGalil]

The effect of pH on anthocyanins in red cabbage is a nice show. I also really like the chemical garden experiments.

[@danieltsmoke]

I feel like this entire episode was built around using the pun "super cool"..but that makes it that much more awesome :]

[@mengciong6155]

My friend always does this with his water bottle and it blows my mind every time he does it.

[@siddyrock]

Michael Aranda for President!

[@cookiedemander]

"Super cool, get it?" So! Much! Win! Best episode ever!

[@JellyfishOverlord]

Haha, that "super cool... get it?" thing really made me crack up!

[@FreaKK367]

Been freezing bottles of water for about 2 years now, since ice cold water is all I drink. Just out of the tap for the most part, and this happens occasionally, it's pretty cool to flick the bottle and watch the ice expand from the impact site, or just shake it and see the entire thing turn into slush in an instant. Always has a weird almost creamy texture when drinking it afterwards though.

[@MichaelPHays]

I noticed this happening when I would leave a bottle of water in the car in the winter. It would be liquid until I took it out of the holder. The movement caused it to freeze right before my eyes. Cool!

[@jahlaydominguez5761]

For everyone who is over 21, you can actually do this with beer. Put a bottle of beer in the freezer, then after letting sit for a few hours take it out and slam it on the table. Ice crystals will form, but not in one big chuck. Since the water in the beer is super cooled, but the alcohol is still above its freezing point a beer slushy is created.

[@azlhiacneg]

Derek from Veritasium got me to try this and I've actually succeeded before!!!! It does take lots of patience...

[@mollymay5989]

This happened me once when I went boating. We put a water bottle in the fridge and left it there, closed, until lunch. I took mine out, took a sip, put on it on the table and a second later, boom. Ice. It was so cool

[@lampshade6579]

This effect is called "super cooling". And it happens because water needs two things to freeze, a low temperature, and a nucleation point. A nucleation point is basically the start of matter change, and water can't make this on its own, cuz it moves too slow to clump up. So usually it freezes off of an impurity in the water that's easier for the water to bond to. However if there is no impurity, then there is no way for the water to begin freezing, and that's how you get super cooled water. But you can still freeze it, by moving the water, and this bunches the water up long enough to begin freezing.

[@ohmycrofts]

you know what else is supercool? this show :D

[@onlybrad]

I like this guy. Good delivery.

[@That_River]

I actually knew this already. Thank you Mythbusters^^

[@markm2078]

The joke at the end was worth the entire watch

[@Ben786]

I saw something awesome online where someone put water in the conditions of its "triple point" and it started bubbling and freezing and all that. You guys should do it too and talk about it! :D

[@theheroicdude]

Also, grab an ice cube and pour your super-cooled water onto it!!! Be the commander of ice crystals!

[@x_Bandaman_x]

Now I know how to get ice in my bong, thanks sci show. :)

[@VideoNozoki]

*This was very cool!* (no pun intended, actually cool) (I'd never seen this in action before, genuinely fascinated.) Thanx SciShow

[@bigglessy]

My parents Fridge sometimes supercools 2L bottles of fizzy drink. You'll go to take the drink out, all liquid. Then you open it, CO2 bubbles appear and act as nucleation sites, and you end up with loads of icy slush. It's amazing.

[@AkubraHatman]

You can do the same with beer or soft drink in glass. In the freezer and take it out and bang it on the table and watch it freeze up. Really coooool.

[@steveking8548]

MOST impressive explanation!!! And my daughter has earrings just like yours.

[@TheLegoguy]

wow, I just did this experiment before this vid came out, its awesome

[@Plagu3Marine7]

This happened to me at work with my pop. I took it out of the refrigerator it was liquid. Walked to my desk, opened it up went to drink it. Solid! I had no idea WTF was going on. That's when I learned about this. It was super cool!

[@thomascrowley6503]

I did this using Fiji water about two years ago. It was awesome!

[@jhumphrey9485]

He's so delightfully bizzare! I love it!

[@pesokpesok]

dive into a supercooled water and have it freeze all around you, and thats how we make mansickels

[@InternationalCoco]

I've actually done this without knowing why it happened. Thanks for the clarification.

[@crosses101]

WoW. I really really didn't know that. Good info. I must try it out!!!

[@ShredStarX]

And that is how you clearly explain something!

[@FloridaStateDeputy]

Thank you guys!!! I love this show!

[@mahdialfadhl5076]

no! You are supercool! love scishow!

[@kylehammond8091]

I was super hungover one morning and I anticipated that by leaving powerades in my truck over night. In the morning I was surprised to find not a pinch of ice in it so I chugged it until I had brain freeze. Set it on my seat, a few minutes later I went to take another sip and it was frozen! Last thing I was expecting, dying of thirst, hungover 😅

[@wintertornado]

that joke gave me the chills

[@narutosenpai1876]

My mind was just blown in so many ways I don't even know what just happened

[@zephyr7484]

I just had this happen with a small coca cola bottle! I put it in the freezer at around 16hr and took it out by 22hr, I actually did think "Huh, it didn't freeze after all this time?" and seconds later boom! The freezing began! My mom was there in the kitchen so we watched it together until it reached the bottom, never thought I'd witness this, and without even trying it!

[@neophytical]

This is so awesome! I love the idea of scishow experiments :D

[@yashpokhriyal4777]

That way really amazing 😂. Very much fun ❤

[@legendaryweredragon35]

I actually have done this but it wasn't with water. It also is possible to do this with some kinds of fruit juice. It works pretty well with cranberry juice. I do not know the scientific reason why it works with some juices because since they are less pure than water it shouldn't work at all. Maybe it's because the impurities in some kinds of juice are not the right kind for ice to form around. When it freezes, instead of producing solid ice it will produce some thing that is similar to a slushy but because the ice crystals form so quickly they are tiny it'll have an extremely weird soft texture. First time I did this it was actually by accident. I grabbed a bottle of juice I had put in the freezer which had frozen and drank it and then a few seconds later it had frozen in my mouth.

[@CaesarsSalad]

If I were a supervillain, I'd throw my captured enemies in a tank of supercooled water.