So Emily Moore and Valeria Molinero of the University of Utah developed a sophisticated computer simulation of 32,768 water molecules (fewer molecules than can be found in a raindrop) that let them see what happened to the water’s heat capacity, density and compressibility as it supercooled and determine what happened as 4,000 of those molecules froze. When liquid water is cooled below -42 degrees F, it crystallizes into ice too quickly for scientists to measure the temperature of the liquid. That turns out to be a tricky problem to answer. Scientists have found liquid water as cold as -40 degrees F in clouds and even cooled water down to -42 degrees F in the lab. We’ve all been taught that water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit, 0 degrees Celsius, 273.15 Kelvin. The title of this post would seem an appropriate question for an elementary-school science exam, but the answer is far more complicated than it first appears. Water crystallizes into ice at 32 degrees Fahrenheit most of the time, but not always.
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