Effects Of The Mmamba Experiment

THE MPEMBA EFFECT

Erin Splaine

Deerfield School

Grade 8

Abstract

The reason for this experiment was to find a faster way to freeze water by simply changing the temperature. The way this was accomplished was by heating an amount of water while leaving an equivalent amount at room temperature, then freezing both amounts of water and determining which freezes first. The heated water ended up freezing completely first, even though the cooler water started to freeze first. These findings tell us that even though something may seem impossible, you never know for sure until you try. The most interesting part about this experiment was that even though the boiled water froze faster, it also melted faster, not retaining the cold for as long as the

It didn’t make any sense. Although, in 2013, physicists found out why this strange effect takes place. It has to do with the chemistry of each individual molecule. “When water heats up, the hydrogen bonds stretch and store energy as the liquid gets less dense and molecules move apart. The extra stretch in the bonds allows the bonds between molecules to relax and shrink a little, giving up their energy. This is equal to cooling.” What this explanation basically means is that superheating the water is equivalent to cooling it. So, when room temperature water is frozen and compared to boiling water freezing, the boiling water has an unfair advantage because it is already more cooled than the room temperature water without being colder, which is even cooler than the phenomenon

5) Check them every 5 minutes and make observations.

Results and Discussion I trialed this experiment three times because the cool water kept freezing before the boiled water. At first, I thought that the problem was with the lids-does it work better with the lids on of not? I came up with the same outcome on both of these trials- the cold water froze first. Then, I came up with a great idea. Maybe the water was supposed to be room temperature and not refrigerated. So, I tried one last time, and ended up with the results going my way. The boiled water finally froze before its cooler counterpart. I ended up with results that supported my hypothesis.

Conclusions Although it sure felt like a “eureka moment” when the boiled water froze first, it wasn’t by much. In fact, the cooler water started freezing first, but after 202 minutes, the boiled water had more frozen particles than the cooled water. My hypothesis was supported, but not by a large margin. This is a cool fact to know however, it is not going to change lives or make the world spin faster. Boiling water before you freeze it doesn’t speed up the process by much, so it isn’t worth making a habit out of, but it sure is