Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 12/04/2009 - 05:12
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IceCube: In-ice Antarctic Telescope

How long would it take for things to freeze at the South Pole? Like a paper cup of water?

Chanlita Luong

1002

Mon, 12/07/2009 - 11:21

Casey OHara

Hi Chanlita,
This depends on a lot of factors - such as, how cold is it outside? how much water is in the cup? and how warm is the water to start?
But small amounts of water freeze very quickly, in fact when I breathe out through my face mask, the moisture in my breath (what makes your breath fog up on cold days) freezes right away to my mask and makes an icicle.
I will try a couple of experiments with freezing water and post something in a journal later on, with more information!
thanks for the question!
--Mr. O'Hara