The Freezing of Supercooled Water in Glass

Abstract

The paper gives an account of some experiments in which water was supercooled and frozen in glass. Elaborate precautions, which were taken to eliminate possible effects due to the colloidal matter of the atmosphere, permitted the study of freezing in an unusually simple environment. Comparison with the behaviour of water frozen in contact with the atmosphere allows some assessment of the significance of airborne contamination. The results, including those of some incidental experiments on the nucleating abilities of graphite, dust and the abrasion of glass on glass, are considered in relation to theory. It is found that the use of glass for the retaining surface precludes the study of spontaneous nucleation in the bulk of the water.