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Ice Prick

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Ice Prick

I’ve been finding this interesting structure in my freezer for quite some time. I finally managed to have a camera handy to document it. Yeah, I still use ice trays. Get over it! The photos were taken with the tray in-situ so no melting has occurred.

I filled this tray several hours ago and sat it in the freezer on top of an already-frozen tray. Whether that has any relevance, I don’ t know.

It appears that something is causing water to squirt up or otherwise be projected up above the surface of the cube where it freezes. The shape of the thing makes me think that there was some amount of flow over time – like an icicle upside down. What I can’t figure out is what is the driving force? Why at an angle? Why only one cube?

In other instances the ice prick appears as a needle-thin object. Always at an angle but oriented in random directions. Is this some interesting physics at work or is the ice tray just horny?

Another View

Ice Prick

Posted by neonjohn on August 24th, 2007 under Science



3 Responses to “Ice Prick”

  1. Norman Yarvin Says:

    The outside freezes first. The inside wants to freeze, but has to expand in the process of doing so. But already being inside a hard shell of ice, it has to force its way out. It finds a weak spot and does so. The weak spot on that one cube must have been different from the rest.

  2. jpitz31 Says:

    Hey John,

    I did not see a nuke category so I will list this here. I ran across this link about the “The Black Hole” A cool nuke scrap yard near the Los Alamos Labs. Though you might get a kick seeing it.
    Heck, you might have even been there.

    http://eecue.com/log_archive/eecue-log-743-The_Black_Hole___Los_Alamos_Laboratory_Salvage_Yard.html

    Thanks

    Joe

  3. Ken Says:

    Try covering the tray with foil. (as an experiment) The airflow in your freezer can cause what you see.

    Also, the cubes will sublimate if left in a freezer with a lot of airflow.

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