Ice Mountain by Faemike55
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Description
As you all remember, I posted an image yesterday and described the actions of water freezing in the ground and what happens when it does. I admit that the picture wasn't the greatest to show what had happened, but Rita, aka Three_grrr had asked in her comments about the background picture and why, so I posted it with the explanation.
Tonight/today, I'm posting this image of the birdbath with the water frozen it it. Now normally a frozen birdbath is not something that a person would normally post. I mean, come on, it's just a birdbath with ice in it, right?
Well, when you think about the dynamics of water as it transforms from regular water to the next form, ice, it's really quite remarkable.
How many of you have given any thought to why, when you put water into an ice-cube tray, the water is flat and smooth, but when it freezes, it's not.
When you look at tonight's posting, you'll see the ice-cube tray example in the extreme. When you think about the physics involved when water freezes, this is really quite neat.
With the exception of ice-cube trays, birdbaths and other manmade objects that are exposed on all sides, including the bottom, most bodies of water will freeze from the outer edges towards the center and then downward. this is because the air & surface temperature of the land just touching the edge of the water get to and below the freezing point before the rest of the water, including and especially the bottom of that pond or river. You see that happen over a long period of time if you live near a river, lake, pond or stream. the slower the body of water, the quicker it will freeze as well.
Anyway, in the case of the birdbath, the stone conducts the cold equally throughout and so, if the temperature stays below freezing for a long enough duration, the water starts freezing along the edges first towards the center of the birdbath, then, because the underside of the birdbath is exposed to the same temperature and it transmits the cold throughout, the water at the bottom starts freezing upwards, from the edges towards the center as well. If you've ever taken an ice-cube tray out too early, you notice that the center/middle of the cube may not have frozen at all or it may have a thin crust on the top.
You're probably wondering where all this is leading to, well here it is: As water freezes, it expands due to the nature of water molecules when the state changes from liquid to a solid, the molecules line up and form latice-like structure and as such, the alignment does not allow for any sneaking in between itself. and so, it expands due to the crystalline nature of the state, and hence, when you've got a birdbath or ice-cube tray with frozen water, you have an ice-mountain bacause the liquid has to go somewhere, and in the case of the two items, the only place it can go is up, there is no other direction. Ask anyone who remembers the old glass milk containers with the paper lids, they can tell you what happens if the milk froze, it popped the top right off the bottle and stuck up a few inches above it. If the bottle had been sealed like today's bottles, the glass would have shattered.
So tonight I present to you the birdbath ice mountain!
Sorry about the long-winded explanation, but this is an interesting subject and if I had thought about it, I would have included a vector diagram to illustrate it further. I may later on if anyone is interested.
Thank you for your patience and also any comments you care to leave.
Enjoy and have a great day and week. I'm just praying that the weather-man is correct and the snow we're getting tonight will be gone by the time I get up in the morning (we've got 3 inches in an hour - I know that's not much, but we just got out of one week of not being able to get anywhere, I just don't want to repeat that event again).
Comments (53)
MagikUnicorn
FREEZZING EVERYWHERE MY FRIEND ;-) BEAUTIFUL SHOT!
shadownet
Great physics and illustration. Now tell me if a bird where to bath a little too long could he take flight with a big ice block attached to his feet? I think not. But maybe you should find a cooperative bird and conduct a more scientific experiment. Just be sure no harm comes to said bird or you are in for it bud! LOL Fun stuff. Hope you do more like it. :O)
DarkStormCrow
Nice shot!
UteBigSmile
Cool shot Mike and very good info dear Mike. 5+) Like this shot, hug's Ute
brycek
Super shot and info Mike!!
efron_241
that is the most amazing thing i ever saw.. wow thanks
while you sang Gwen in the Jungle.. did you see the danger in the nose ?
renecyberdoc
keep on going with this ,very useful information,i guess i real tiny-minority looks at it this way.great work altogether.
Darkwish
I like this pic! Great work!
Meisiekind
Gosh - for the first time ever even I understand some physics! Thanks Mike and a lovely image to illustrate... :)
barryjeffer
Great capture and an even more perfect science lesson... wonderful work my friend..
jeroni
Excellent shot, fantastic colors and details
moonbunnie
Wow freezzy :) nice shot!
mnmpm
where are the fairies??
Gisela
wow!
RodolfoCiminelli
Very creative POV....!!! A excellent winter scene my friend...!!!!
capelito
Nice shot!
allnaydi
Great shot and physics Mike - very nicely explained!
sazzart
Everytime the city plows my street, we're plowed in. Big snow chunks blocking the driveway. SDo the same snow mass ends up getting moved 2 or 3 times. The problem is I'm running out of places to shovel the stuff to
mininessie
wow! the shot is great ...but your explanation is the best!!! thanks you so much ..i love to know about this kind of things :D
ladyinblack
Great shot and wonderfully written information :)
schonee
Great long-winded explanation I enjoyed it..Great shot as well
MrsRatbag
I never saw a hump in the middle of a frozen birdbath before; then, maybe I've never seen a frozen birdbath before! Cool shot!
Prematos
Wow. They say it will be -20 °C tonight in Germany, lets see...
gypsyflame
Well, I feel like I learned something today my friend...you explained it very well and held my attention....very well done!
Danter
curious , great observer , well done
Amosicho
Nice shot!
flaviok
Esplendida esplanação e foto, aplausos (5)
dianas..creations
Excellent and very interesting explanation! Awesome shot of the birdbath!!
cvrad
Thank you MR. PROFESSOR for the explanation i hope there won't be a test on this tomorow! I love physics to but I can't explain it to anybody I just know it works!
BenBischop
Amazing...!!