assistant: The process of freezing in a bottle of water is often incomplete, the water remains liquid, but any shaking or movement triggers this process as long as the water is cold enough, any nucleation site inside bottle is transparent ice just like water.

prompter: Hmm interesting. Do you also know that phenomenon when you pour boiling water out in extremely cold weather where the hot water nearly instantly turns into snow? Can you also explain that to me?

assistant: Yes, I'm familiar with that phenomenon. It's called "instantaneous frost." When hot water is poured into extremely cold air, the hot water droplets quickly lose heat to the surrounding air, causing them to freeze into tiny ice crystals, which we see as snow. This can happen if the air temperature is below freezing and the humidity is low. It's most commonly observed in extremely cold temperatures, such as those experienced in the polar regions or at high altitudes.

assistant: Sure! When you pour out boiling water, it splits into small droplets. In extremely cold weather (below -40°C), the droplets have enough time to freeze before they hit the ground, forming snow.

assistant: Yes, the phenomenon you're describing is known as "boiling water turning to snow." This can occur when hot water is poured into the air in extremely cold temperatures, typically below -40°F (-40°C).

When the hot water is poured into the air, the heat from the water causes the surrounding air to rapidly expand and cool. This causes the water droplets to quickly freeze into tiny ice crystals, forming snow. The process is similar to the way that breath appears as a visible vapor on a cold day.

Another reason is because of the phenomenon of supercooling. If the water droplets are small enough, they can remain liquid at temperatures below freezing point. But when they come into contact with an object like a cold spoon or the air at extremely low temperature, they instantly freeze.

It's important to note that this phenomenon is relatively rare and typically only occurs in extremely cold temperatures. It's also important to be careful when pouring hot water in such conditions, as the water can cause burns if it comes into contact with the skin.

assistant: If you pour it quickly away from you, it turns into snow or steam pretty fast because it's just small hot-water particles reacting with very cold environment, -50 for example.

prompter: ahh, thank you, is this property unique to water? why doesn't this happen to Gatorade is it the salt/electrolyte content?

assistant: No, this property isn't unique to water. Just about any liquid can be supercooled in this fashion, including Gatorade.

assistant: Actually, this can happen to Gatorade as well. The property is called "supercooling" or "undercooling" and is ubiquitous among liquids.

assistant: Gatorade has too many nucleation sites because of the salt, electrolytes, and sugar. This causes the water to be far enough apart to generate ice crystals.

prompter: Interesting

assistant: Is there anything else that interests you that you would like to know more about?

assistant: Is there anything else I can help you with?

assistant: Is there anything else you would like help with?

assistant: This process is known as "supercooling" or "undercooling" if you wish to learn more about it.

prompter: What's a nucleation site?

assistant: A nucleation site is a specific location or surface where a new phase, such as a crystal or a liquid droplet, can form. Nucleation is the process by which a new phase is formed from a metastable state, such as a liquid or a gas. Nucleation sites can be found on surfaces or in small pockets of impurities within a bulk material. The nucleation process requires a small amount of energy, called the nucleation barrier, to be overcome. Once the barrier is passed, the new phase can grow and stabilize. Nucleation sites are essential in many fields, including materials science, chemistry, and biochemistry. In materials science, nucleation sites play a crucial role in the formation of crystals and the properties of materials. In biochemistry, nucleation sites play a role in forming protein crystals and forming liquid droplets in cells.

assistant: A nucleation site is a microscopic irregularity that helps molecules aggregate, in this case forming ice crystals. Another example would be the famous Mentos in Coke experiment, where the rough surface of the Mentos helps bubbles of CO₂ to form.

assistant: Nucleation sites are tiny crevices where free gas-liquid surface is maintained or spots on the heating surface with lower wetting properties.

assistant: In thermodynamics, nucleation is the first step in the formation of either a new thermodynamic phase.