why does plain water freeze quicker than salt water and sugar water?
80785
One thing I know, salt reduces the freezing temperature of water, its why ppl use salt on snow and ice. Not because it melts it, but because it reduces the freezing temp.
926439
fresh water freezes faster...ps, i gave you best answer on a question
1052359
Easy, every substance has a melting/freezing point. Just because substances are in a liquid state at... room temperature (25 celcius), doesnt mean that one wont freeze at 20 Celcius and another at... -15 Celcius make sense right? \n\nWell when you disolve things into a liquid (which are at that point called electrolites I believe, the things you disolve into the liquid that is) you change the freezing point of that liquid. \n\nFor example water, plain freshwater freezes at 32 Ferinheight, but you add 3% salt to it and you have saltwater right. And the freezing point of saltwater which only has a very little bit of salt in it now freezes at around 0 Ferinheight.\n\nSo iced tea has a bunch of crap added to it so it could very easy change the temperature that that specific liquid freezes. \n\nAnother very important note is that if it is in the back of the fridge, then that is where it could easily be below 30 degrees and it could freeze up. It is way colder in the back of the fridge then in the front.
213133
The cooler water will freeze faster.  The hotter water is the faster the molecules in it are moving and the more energy there is in the water.  Before water can freeze it needs to lose this energy.  Therefore the more energy it needs to lose the longer it takes to cool and the longer it takes to freeze.\n\nThe belief the boiling water freezes faster than cooler water is a popular misconception.\n\nHowever, it is true to say that boiling water (100 degrees C) will freeze slightly faster then almost boiling water (95 degrees c) but that's because considerably more of the boiling wtare will evaporate than the nearly boiling water and therefore there's less water remaining.\n\nThis probably explains why cyanne2ak is able to freak people out by throwing hot coffee at them - in very cold temps theere will be very rapid evapouration and as such far less of the coffee that leaves the cup will land on the 'victim' then would be the case with tap water.
921
salt water will freeze, but at a much lower temperature than non salt water. the north polar ice pack is non salt water, and the saly wayer flows underneath it. submarines ofter pass under the pack while on patrol.
114884
Hot water does not freeze faster than cold, all conditions being the same, such as altitude, air pressure, and amount of cold applied to the water to make the water freeze.
888554
Strangely enough, the HOT water would freeze first.  There is a chemical explanation for this.
412700
If you put hot water in the freezer it turns to ice faster.\n\nA famous scientist named Kelvin figured that out because hot water molecules move faster so the cold in the rfreezer makes them slow down faster than cold water molecules which are already moving slow, so hence the hot water freezes faster the hot water is "shocked" by the cold as it were.
199280
Salt causes the freezing point of water (and any other solvent for that matter) to be lowered. Thus, a salt solution freezes at a lower temperature than pure water. This phenomenon is called "freezing point depression." The extent to which the temperature is lowered is a function of the molality (moles of solute per kilogram of solution). That means that the more salt you add, the lower will be the freezing point.
741460
Two things are unusual about water.\n\n1. Frozen water (ice) is less dense than liquid water, as a few answerers have already said.  For every other liquid, the frozen form is more dense.\n\n2. As it cools, water gets steadily denser until about 4 degrees C, then it gets slightly less dense as it cools to its freezing point at zero degrees C.  Every other liquid just gets steadily denser and denser until it freezes.\n\nBoth of these unusual things are quite important for life on earth, but the second one is much more important than the first one.
10515
water freezes at 32 F.  When you add other substances to water, you create a soliable compound and the solution takes on some of the quality of the other substance.  Adding salt or sugar prevents the solution from freezing at 32 F. Juices or bullion cubes would work in a similar manner.  if you're going camping, sleep with your water in your sleeping bag ;)
629453
warm water dissolves ice faster than warm air because it can transfer and absorb heat faster than warm air of the same temperature
23033
If you were able to get the salt solution cold enough, it would freeze. However, if you put two ice trays side by side, one filled with water, the other filled with salt water, and chilled them to the point where both froze, the would both be the same temperature. However, once the cold was taken away, the salt solution would melt at a much lower temperature than the water only cubes.\n\nWhat salt does when added to water is decrease the temperature at which water will freeze -- as well as melt. How much the freezing/melting point is lowered depends on how much salt is added. The higher the concentration, the lower the freezing/melting point.
790704
1. Ice is one of the only known liquids that actually expands as it freezes. This is due to hydrogen bonds forming between the water molecules, which line up molecules less efficiently (in terms of volume) when water is frozen.\n\n2. Tea in a saucer has much more surface area than tea in a cup, therefore it cools much faster.\n\n3. These pots are made of a material with the property of insulating and protecting the water from infrared light. With less infrared light, the water is cooler.\n\n4. Water is a green house gas, which means the more water there is in the air; the more infrared light reflecting off the ground (which initially comes from sunlight of the visible spectrum) will be reflected back to earth. On a dry day, with less clouds and moisture, infrared light is better able to escape into the atmosphere. Sand is no conductor, so it is constantly emitting infrared rays to cool down. The more heat, the more it cools.\n\n5. Homogenous literally means "same throughout". It is a mixture that appears to be of a constant chemical makeup, such as salt dissolved in water. Heterogeneous means "made of different materials". An example of a heterogeneous mixture could be oil in water (the water is more dense, the oil floats on top).
879719
They are actually not similar.\n\nWater, unlike most substances, becomes less dense when it freezes. This is why ice floats and (in a way) one of the properties of water that allows life as we know it to exist.\n\nEvaporation of sea water leaves behind solutes (salt, minerals, etc) that become more concentrated over time, increasing overall density of the water left behind (if it's not replenished with fresh water). This is why you see people float so easily on dead-sea type bodies of water (the Aral Sea, Great Salt Lake, the Dead Sea).
684151
The freezing point of pure water is 0°C, but that melting point can be lowered by the adding any solvent such as a salt. Depending on the amount of salt the freezing temperature of a saline solution can range from below 0°C to -21.1°C. The frozen solution is a mixture of separate NaCl·2H2O crystals and ice crystals, not a homogeneous mixture of salt and water. This heterogeneous mixture is called a eutectic mixture. \nThe use of ordinary salt on sidewalks is effective because it requires a colder temperature to freeze water and it is a cheaper alternative to other solvents or methods of ice removal.
67706
Yes. It takes more time for hot water to freeze - the cooling process takes longer when you start from a higher temperature.\n\nDifferent liquids freeze at different temperatures.\n\nIt depends how cold the place where you're putting the boiling water is, how much boiling water there is, etc.\n\nI think that each liquid has a specific temperature at which it freezes - it may not be associated with thickness.