Why Does Hot Water Freeze Faster?

Why Does Hot Water Freeze Faster?

One of the most intriguing questions that people have asked over the years is whether or not hot water freezes at a quicker pace than cold water does. On the surface, it would seem that the colder water would most likely have a head start to getting to zero degrees, but scientists have proven over time that the hotter water actually does, in fact, freeze faster than cooler water. The reasons are quite complicated, but can be understood.

The Mpemba effect is the process that defines the answer to that intriguing question. It is named after a school student in Tanzania, who figured out the freezing process of his heated milk when he was trying to make ice cream, actually froze quicker than the milk that was cooler. This astounded scientists everywhere and made them think back to the teachings of Aristotle which said many of the same things.

It is really hard to fathom how it is physically possible for things that are heated to actually freeze faster than things that are already in a cooler state, but that is exactly how it actually is. Scientists have been baffled by this exciting question for hundreds of years, but I think we have finally come to an ultimate conclusion that nothing is always as it may appear to be.

The human thought process does not naturally let us think about these things in a scientific way and many of us are way too lazy to even attempt to try out a little science project to determine the answers to these intriguing questions. Fortunately, we have had some scientists in the past and scientists in our immediate present that are willing to try these things out and show us the answers to such questions like the cold versus hot water freezing test.