Nature & Environment
Ice Forms at a Rapid Pace: The Physics of Ice Formation
Catherine Griffin
First Posted: Aug 03, 2015 05:27 PM EDT
A new study has calculated the speed of ice formation. This could be huge when it comes to calculating recovery rates in glaciers and large ice sheets.
Cold temperatures impact both living and non-living systems, including how living cells respond to cold and how ice forms in clouds at high altitudes. A more precise knowledge of the initial steps of freezing could improve weather forecasts and climate models.
In this latest study, the researchers looked at the process by which, as the temperature drops, water molecules begin to cling to each other to form a blob of solid ice within the surrounding liquid. These blobs tend to disappear quickly after formation, though occasionally a large enough blob emerges and is stable enough to grow rather than to melt.
The researchers created a computerized model of water that mimicked the two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen found in real water. Through computer simulations, the researchers calculated the average amount of time it takes for the first critical nucleus to form at 43 degrees Celsius, which is representative of high altitude clouds.
In the end, the researchers found that the time was one-millionth of a second.
"When water nucleates to form ice there is usually a combination of the cubic and hexagonal forms, but it was not well-understood why this would be the case," said Amir Haji-Akbari, one of the researchers, in a news release. "We were able to look at how the shapes of ice blobs change during the nucleation process, and one of the main findings of our work is to explain how a less stable form of ice is favored over the more stable hexagonal ice during the initial stages of the nucleation process."
The findings are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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First Posted: Aug 03, 2015 05:27 PM EDT
A new study has calculated the speed of ice formation. This could be huge when it comes to calculating recovery rates in glaciers and large ice sheets.
Cold temperatures impact both living and non-living systems, including how living cells respond to cold and how ice forms in clouds at high altitudes. A more precise knowledge of the initial steps of freezing could improve weather forecasts and climate models.
In this latest study, the researchers looked at the process by which, as the temperature drops, water molecules begin to cling to each other to form a blob of solid ice within the surrounding liquid. These blobs tend to disappear quickly after formation, though occasionally a large enough blob emerges and is stable enough to grow rather than to melt.
The researchers created a computerized model of water that mimicked the two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen found in real water. Through computer simulations, the researchers calculated the average amount of time it takes for the first critical nucleus to form at 43 degrees Celsius, which is representative of high altitude clouds.
In the end, the researchers found that the time was one-millionth of a second.
"When water nucleates to form ice there is usually a combination of the cubic and hexagonal forms, but it was not well-understood why this would be the case," said Amir Haji-Akbari, one of the researchers, in a news release. "We were able to look at how the shapes of ice blobs change during the nucleation process, and one of the main findings of our work is to explain how a less stable form of ice is favored over the more stable hexagonal ice during the initial stages of the nucleation process."
The findings are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Related Stories
Climate Change: Glaciers are Melting Faster Than Ever Before
For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone