What is Ice: Definition and 980 Discussions

Ice is water frozen into a solid state. Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaque bluish-white color.
In the Solar System, ice is abundant and occurs naturally from as close to the Sun as Mercury to as far away as the Oort cloud objects. Beyond the Solar System, it occurs as interstellar ice. It is abundant on Earth's surface – particularly in the polar regions and above the snow line – and, as a common form of precipitation and deposition, plays a key role in Earth's water cycle and climate. It falls as snowflakes and hail or occurs as frost, icicles or ice spikes and aggregates from snow as glaciers and ice sheets.
Ice exhibits at least eighteen phases (packing geometries), depending on temperature and pressure. When water is cooled rapidly (quenching), up to three types of amorphous ice can form depending on its history of pressure and temperature. When cooled slowly, correlated proton tunneling occurs below −253.15 °C (20 K, −423.67 °F) giving rise to macroscopic quantum phenomena. Virtually all ice on Earth's surface and in its atmosphere is of a hexagonal crystalline structure denoted as ice Ih (spoken as "ice one h") with minute traces of cubic ice, denoted as ice Ic and, more recently found, Ice VII inclusions in diamonds. The most common phase transition to ice Ih occurs when liquid water is cooled below 0 °C (273.15 K, 32 °F) at standard atmospheric pressure. It may also be deposited directly by water vapor, as happens in the formation of frost. The transition from ice to water is melting and from ice directly to water vapor is sublimation.
Ice is used in a variety of ways, including for cooling, for winter sports, and ice sculpting.

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  1. S

    Ice cube in an old Micro-oven giving visible electric shocks

    I put 1 litre of ice cube to the micro-oven which is age is about 30 years. The shape of the ice cube was a little bit circular. I set the power of the micro to the maximum. There were continuous white electric shocks inside the micro. The ice cube contained a little fish which contained some...
  2. G

    Heat problem, determine mass of ice cube?

    My answer is 12.9 grams, and the correct answer is supposed to be 11.9 grams. I cannot figure out why? Note. the answer i got is 12.9, and not 11.06. I know for this situation, the heat absorbed by the ice equals the heat lost by the water and aluminum, and since there is a phase change from a...
  3. P

    Thermodynamics - again, Part of the ice that melt :S

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  4. L

    How is hail formed in thunderclouds?

    Hi Ladies and Gentlemen Watching an episode of Mythbusters a couple of weeks ago, . . it just hit me .. maybe this is how ice is formed in clouds. You have a supercooled bottle of waterbased liquid. You strike a blow to the bottle and watch the liquid turn instanly into ice. Is not it...
  5. C

    New to the forum - Stored energy to melt ice

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  6. J

    Bicycle Powered Ice Cream Maker

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  7. Spinnor

    Bottle of supercooled water + agitation = some ice and water

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  8. J

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  9. G

    If the earth's ice caps melted, how long would a day last?

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  10. J

    Length of the day change if polar ice caps melt.

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  11. Y

    The Science Behind Ice Skating: Debunking the Myth of Pressure and Melting Point

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  12. Y

    Boy Seated On Mound of Ice, Starts Sliding

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  13. C

    Exploring the Melting of an Ice Cube in Water

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  14. morrobay

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  15. S

    Advanced ICE Table (chemical equilibria)

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  16. P

    Enthelpy Change of Ice to Vapor - Show on Graph w/BTU's

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  17. S

    Why is Ice More Prevalent in Comets than in Early Planetary States?

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  18. H

    Ice poured into water. Final temperature?

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  19. C

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  20. C

    Investigating Ice Specific Heat of Fusion

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  21. P

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  22. O

    Investigating an Unexpected Ice Spike Formation

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  23. M

    Why Is Dry Ice's Energy Change Considered Internal Rather Than Enthalpy?

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  24. C

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  25. N

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  26. A

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  27. RAHIL008

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  28. D

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  29. S

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  30. L

    Specific Heat of Ice and Copper

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  31. M

    How Does Water Content in Ice Affect Its Latent Heat of Fusion Value?

    We did a calorimeter experiment in my school however the teacher warned us that the latent heat of fusion of ice value will be different from the standard value because the ice has water in it and because the ice melts little before actually doing the experiment. However my question is which way...
  32. P

    Elastic Collision - Ice Hockey

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  33. FlexGunship

    Ice Fort Building: From Year 1 to 3

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  34. R

    How much energy does it take to heat a block of ice

    Homework Statement How much energy is required to change a 35 g ice cube from ice at −15 C to steam at 117 C? The specific heat of ice is 2090 J/kg * C, the specific heat of water is 4186 J/kg * C, the specific heat of stream is 2010 J/kg * C, the heat of fusion is 3.33 × 10^5 J/kg, and the heat...
  35. S

    Layer of Ice in water pipe (affect on heat transfer)

    Hi I am curious to know if anyone can provide a formula/answer to the affect of a thin layer of ice may have on heat loss in water flowing in a pipe. Example. I have a smooth plastic pipe approx 20mm diameter, 5m length. 400ml of water travels down the pipe, approximately 0.5m/s. in -10C...
  36. M

    Calorimetry problem involving tea and ice

    The problem: On a hot summer day, you decide to make some iced tea. First, you brew 1.50 L of hot tea and leave it to steep until it has reached a temperature of T_tea = 75.0 C. You then add 0.975 kg of ice taken from the freezer at a temperature of T_ice = 0 C. By the time the mix reaches...
  37. V

    Thermal Conductivity Ice Question

    Homework Statement Ice has formed on a shallow pond, and a steady state has been reached, with the air above the ice at -9.6°C and the bottom of the pond at 5.5°C. If the total depth of ice + water is 2.1 m, how thick is the ice? (Assume that the thermal conductivities of ice and water are...
  38. A

    Calculate the mass of ice with heat transfer / latent heat

    Homework Statement Find mi, the initial mass of ice. Ti = -20 ci = 2093Jkg-1K-1 Ts = +35 ms = 2kg cs = 837.4Jkg-1K-1 cw = 4187Jkg-1K-1 lf = 3.35x105Jkg-1 S = solid W = water I = ice lf = latent heat of fusion of ice / waterHomework Equations Q=mc\DeltaT Q=C\DeltaT Q=mlThe Attempt at a...
  39. M

    Calculating Latent Heat of Ice: A Physics Practical Guide

    Homework Statement Hi, I've been given the following information to manipulate the results of my last physics practical: Mass Of Water * Specific Heat Capacity of Water * Change in Temperature of Water = Latent Heat of Ice * Mass of Ice + Mass of Ice * Specific Heat Capacity of Water *...
  40. KenJackson

    Why doesn't ice in Saturn's ring sublime away?

    Brian Cox on Wonders of the Solar System (episode: Order Out of Chaos) on the Science Channel says the rings of Saturn are made up of chunks of water ice. Water ice? In space? I would expect a chunk of water ice in space would experience a near zero vapor pressure. Wouldn't it? And if...
  41. D

    Why is it that my drink tastes better with ice in it?

    Like, even if it is ice cold already, it still seems to taste better with ice. I'm guessing it's just a psychological thing?
  42. D

    Melting arctic ice = NMP movement increase?

    i was just reading an article i got linked to from google, about the North magnetic poles location is moving towards siberia currently at about 45k per year, which has increased over the past 100 years from around 15k per year, it was explained that it was possibly caused by density variations...
  43. M

    Strange ice formation, gravity-defying ?

    Can anybody explain how this inverted icicle could have come to be formed ? This mug of water had been sitting outside for a few days, last night the temperature in Edinburgh dropped to below zero, and this morning I saw that this ice stalagmite had formed. There was no source of dripping...
  44. E

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  45. L

    Calculating Composition & Temp of Mixture After Adding Steam & Ice

    Homework Statement One kg of steam at 100 degrees Celsius is added to 1 kg of ice at 0 degrees Celsius. What is the composition and temperature of the resulting mixture. The heat of fusion for water is 79.7 kcal/kg, the heat of vaporization is 539 kcal/kg, and specific heats of ice and water...
  46. K

    Temperature change of ice water

    A tub of icy water at 0 degrees C hold 100 gallons. You put a 25 pound watermelon with a temperature of 29.4 degrees C. The tub is wrapped in blankets to avoid heat loss. What will be the final temperature of the watermelon, considering that a watermelon is mostly water?
  47. M

    Calculating Buoyant Force of Ice in Water: Homework Practice

    1. a)Homework Statement What is the buyant force on 0.90kg of a block of ice floating on liquid water? B) What is the buyant force on 0.90kg of ice held completely submerged under water? Homework Equations Fbuy+mg=0 Fb=mg The Attempt at a SolutionFb=.90kg * 9.18m/s^2=8.8 so i...
  48. O

    Steel pulling through ice, find weight of object

    Homework Statement Steel object is pulling uniformly through the ice with applied force 2 Newtons. Find object's weight (P), if k of friction is 0.02 Homework Equations F = 2 Newtons k = 0.02 P - ? F = m*a P = m*g The Attempt at a Solution I drow all forces and made this: ma =...
  49. E

    Calorimetry: adding ice to water

    Homework Statement A 53.5 g ice cube, initially at 0°C, is dropped into a Styrofoam cup containing 369 g of water, initially at 21.4°C. What is the final temperature of the water, if no heat is transferred to the Styrofoam or the surroundings? Homework Equations Lf*m + Mc Delta T = MC Delta...
  50. A

    Finding the final temperature of a final solution. putting ice in soda/water

    Homework Statement Suppose you have a 24 ounce mug of soda (treat as water) at room temperature, which is 22 C. Warm soda tastes bad, so you add 125 g of ice at -25 C to the soda. What is the temperature (in C) of the soda once all the ice melts and the solution reaches a uniform temperature...
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