celery raises the freezing point of water?
aze...@cris.com
I don't think these are the most appropriate groups to post this, but
I think I will get better responses here.
Has anyone ever heard of celery raising the freezing point of water.
Specifically, I had s bunch of celery sticks cut up and sitting in a
medium sized tupperware bowl of water. This was placed in the
refrigerator. The fridge is set on about 7, but has not ever frozen
the jug of water to my knowledge. The next day, the bowl with the
celery had an approx. 1/4" thick layer of ice on it. Nothing else in
the fridge was frozen. I don't know if this is a chemical phenomenon
or is something else is going on. I thought maybe my roommate put
some salt in the water, but I am pretty sure that has the opposite
effect (ie. lowers the freezing point).
Basically I want to know what the hell happened?
Norman Howe
On Tue, 3 Dec 1996 aze...@cris.com wrote:
> ...
> Has anyone ever heard of celery raising the freezing point of water.
> ... The next day, the bowl with the
> celery had an approx. 1/4" thick layer of ice on it. Nothing else in
> the fridge was frozen. I don't know if this is a chemical phenomenon
> or is something else is going on. I thought maybe my roommate put
> some salt in the water, but I am pretty sure that has the opposite
> effect (ie. lowers the freezing point).
>
> Basically I want to know what the hell happened?
>
>
I don't know why it happened either, but it happens in our
refrigerator, too. You're right about salt lowering the freezing point:
Zero degrees Fahrenheit was defined as the temperature at which a
saturated solution of salt water would freeze.
Theory (based on my knowledge of lake dynamics): Evaporation on
the surface of water causes it to cool; the cooler water sinks. The
circulation prevents the water from reaching freezing temperature in your
refrigerator.
When you have something IN the water (like celery), this prevents
the surface water from exchanging with the warmer water below it.
Continued evaporation cools the surface even more, and it falls to 4
degrees C and below (at which point the colder the water, the lighter it
gets). The surface then freezes.
Yours in these Current Middle Ages,
Norman Howe
Known in the S.C.A. as Torin of Hyrcania
TBOUTTE
I've had the same experience with celery soaking in water. I've also seen
this happen with soaking beans. Some plants have proteins that are
designed to prevent the plant from freezing, from drying, etc. I've never
heard of a protein that favors freezing, however.
I think the answer lies in the absorption of water by the celery and the
beans. Both of these absorb a lot of water and presumably the absorbed
water is recycled into the container. The number of hydrogen bonds in
the water may be decreased due to the absorption process which would lower
the, excuse me, increase the amount of water evaporating from the surface.
Therefore, evaporative cooling would be increased.
Also, the increased ordering, decreased entropy, of the water as it binds
to proteins/carbohydrates should absorb some heat.
Troy.
Elisabeth Orr
aze...@cris.com wrote:
>
> I don't think these are the most appropriate groups to post this, but
> I think I will get better responses here.
>
> medium sized tupperware bowl of water. This was placed in the
> refrigerator. The fridge is set on about 7, but has not ever frozen
> celery had an approx. 1/4" thick layer of ice on it. Nothing else in
> the fridge was frozen.
Dunno abt why the WATER froze, but I do know that celery (or @least the
water therein) kept in my fridge at home routinely froze when nothing
else did.
Peace,
E
--
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+ great idea every day." - David Bowie +
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+ Rev. Elisabeth Orr = ej...@wam.umd.edu +
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