It is considered the coldest liquid water ever. It's not as simple as we think. We know that water turns into ice at zero degrees Celsius or 32 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the freezing point, but under certain conditions the water can be further supercooled and still remain liquid
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It is considered the coldest liquid water ever. It's not as simple as we think. We know that water turns into ice at zero degrees Celsius or 32 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the freezing point, but under certain conditions the water can be further supercooled and still remain liquid.
Two groups of scientists recently uncovered new details about supercooled water, showing that this liquid, while very common, still has aspects we don't know about.
The first study was conducted by Goethe University of Frankfurt. Supercooled water droplets can naturally exist in our planet's atmosphere, even at -35 ° Celsius. But it's not easy for scientists to measure its temperature. The research team pioneered a new technique that measures droplet temperatures through their diameters. Scientists have thus proved that liquid water can exist down to -42,55 ° C, the lowest temperature measured to date.
Robert Grisenti, head of research, sprayed a jet of micrometer-sized water droplets into an empty chamber. Each time a drop moved, some of its liquid evaporated, cooling the remaining part and causing it to shrink. Then the diameter of the drop was used as a measure of the amount of cooling.
The research was published on Physical Review Letters.
The second study was conducted by scientists from theStockholm University, who have conducted pioneering research on supercooled water and discovered something truly strange.
They noted that at normal pressure and a temperature of 44 degrees Celsius, water “can exist in the form of two distinct liquids with different ways of binding molecules. Water cannot decide which form to be in without floating between these two, ”explains the research team. Using X-ray pulses, they found that many of the strange properties of water reach a maximum of -44 degrees C.
This ability to pass from one liquid to another through fluctuations gives water its strange properties.
"The special thing is that we were able to irradiate the water very quickly before it froze and we saw how it fluctuates between its different states", says Anders Nilsson, professor of chemical physics at Stockholm University.
For decades, several theories have been advanced to explain the fact that these strange characteristics are even more evident when water is supercooled. Now scientists have discovered the existence of a critical point at -44 ° C but at a higher pressure. The next step will be to study this critical point in depth.
The research was published on Science.
READ also:
- WHY DO FINGERS WRINKLE IN THE WATER?
- HOW TO PRODUCE DRINKING WATER FROM NOTHING, WITH SOLAR ENERGY (PHOTOS AND VIDEO)
Water, so simple, so precious but also so mysterious.
Francesca Mancuso
cover photo
