Journal

Fairbanks vs. New York City

After traveling through 4 time zones and across thousands of miles (roughly 4200!), I arrived safely in Fairbanks, Alaska. We have been experiencing some pretty cold temperatures in New York this winter, but as I stepped outside the airport and felt my nose sting with 20 below air temperatures, I knew I had made it to the right place. I got into a taxi and drove down icy streets to my hotel. Looking out the window, I was amazed to be here. Let the adventure begin!

Fairbanks, Alaska
The view of Fairbanks, Alaska from my hotel window.

Going Through Phases in Alaska

When people get to experience very, very cold temperatures, there is a popular way to test out the elements: throwing hot water into the air. During my time with PolarTREC in Fairbanks, Alaska, I took advantage of the below-freezing temperatures to try out this famous test. It was only -17 degrees Fahrenheit, but I was still able to create snow from my cups of hot water. Watch the video below to see!

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Notice how the cold water did not turn in to snow, but the hot water did. Why is that? Post your answer to why you think hot water turns into snow but cold water doesn't in the comments section below and stay tuned to the next journal entry to see if you were right.

Details
Author
Michelle Brown
Date
Location
Fairbanks, Alaska
Expedition
Space Weather Monitoring on the Antarctic Plateau
Weather Summary
Clear and Sunny
Temperature
-19

View Comments

Comments

Tue, 02/11/2014 - 17:05

Guest

1. the effects are cool and
2. The cold water is already cold and the molecules move slowly. It can't create steam from slow molecules. The hot water has steam and the hot water has molecules that are moving fast and they linger because they cant adjust to the cold air and slow down.

-Nic V

Tue, 02/11/2014 - 17:17

Guest

My best guess as to why the hot water turned in to snow and the cold water didn't is because of the extreme difference in temperature between the hot water and the air temperature. Maybe because the hot water had to cool down extremely fast that it caused it to turn into snow, while the cold water temperature was closer to the temperature of the air, and therefore didn't have to cool down as quickly, causing it to stay a liquid. But, based on what we were studying in class last week the right answer probably deals with condensation, density..etc.--Jackson

Tue, 02/11/2014 - 17:18

Guest

I think that hot water work better than cold because at the rate the molecules condense is so fast, it becomes snow, but if you were to use cold water, it would condense just as quick but turn into ice directly.

Tue, 02/11/2014 - 17:19

Guest

this was Marlo, the name didn't show up before

Tue, 02/11/2014 - 21:58

Guest

I believe that the chemical reaction between the cold water and hot water reacts differently in a way where the hot water would go through a much more significant change in pressure and temperature. The temperature of the cold water is already much closer to that of the temperature of the area you are in so as you released the cold water into the air, its similarity in temperature with the environment would allow it to remain in its current state, which is water, especially since no pressure is increased because of the likeliness the cold water has to the environment. All due to the fact that there is no alterations being made. When the warm water is tossed into the air it changed into snow most likely due to its temperature difference so as you let it go the expanded particles of the water would contract or exert pressure violently in a way where it changes and crystallizes in the air with the aid of the air temperature which was important the sequence of these events. This is why hot water would work better than cold water in the creation of snow.
-Dawson

Wed, 02/12/2014 - 03:20

Guest

The hot water created snow because of the rapid change from molecules moving really fast to moving really slow, the cold water didn't have that rapid change so it didn't work.Ben

Wed, 02/12/2014 - 04:24

Guest

The hot water created snow due to change from molecules. The cold water is already cold so that's why it didn't turn into snow. The hot water condensed faster, and the molecules are faster than the ones in cold water.

Wed, 02/12/2014 - 08:09

Guest

I think that when the hot water is thrown into the cold arctic air the molecules slow down and makes snow.

Wed, 02/12/2014 - 08:19

Guest

I think that the hot water freezes and turns into snow due to the molecules in which the hot water is going crazy jumping everywhere and then it cools down so the molecules condense together.- Kevin M.

Wed, 02/12/2014 - 08:57

Guest

I think that hot water works better when making snow then cold water because when the hot water is exposed to the colder air, the molecules slow down, creating a rapid change in form from a liquid to the solid, snow. As opposed to the cold water, that is not experiencing molecular change due to the close relation in temperature, change in energy, etc.
-Sarah R.

Wed, 02/12/2014 - 09:15

Guest

I think that the reason that the hot water turns into snow easier than cold water is before the hot water leaves the cup its already dispersing its self making it easier to condence when it hits the below zero air

Zane

Wed, 02/12/2014 - 11:47

Guest

My guess to why the hot water turned to snow and the cold water didn't is because of the difference in temperature. When it is -17 degrees out there is no water vapor in the air, so when you emit water vapor in to the air (hot water) the molecules will spread apart and form snow. When you throw cold water in the air, there is no molecular change. -Ken S

Wed, 02/12/2014 - 11:47

Guest

My guess to why the hot water turned to snow and the cold water didn't is because of the difference in temperature. When it is -17 degrees out there is no water vapor in the air, so when you emit water vapor in to the air (hot water) the molecules will spread apart and form snow. When you throw cold water in the air, there is no molecular change. -Ken S

Wed, 02/12/2014 - 12:08

Guest

I think that hot water turns into snow because of its difference with the air temperature, therefore as it goes through the air the change in temperature is fast that the molecules's temperature of the water decrease so fast that the air froze. But because there isn't a big difference between the cold water temperature and tha air temperature it doesn't affect the cold water molecules.-Tom T

Wed, 02/12/2014 - 12:08

Guest

I think that hot water turns into snow because of its difference with the air temperature, therefore as it goes through the air the change in temperature is fast that the molecules's temperature of the water decrease so fast that the air froze. But because there isn't a big difference between the cold water temperature and tha air temperature it doesn't affect the cold water molecules.-Tom T

Wed, 02/12/2014 - 12:08

Guest

I think that the hot water turned into snow because it's molecules started moving fast then cooled and slowed, so it turned to snow, while the cold water experienced no change.Harry K

Wed, 02/12/2014 - 12:56

Guest

I think the hot water works better than the cold water because when the hot water is thrown into the air the molecules slow down much more rapidly resulting in snow.

Wed, 02/12/2014 - 12:56

Guest

I think since the water is already cold the cold air has no effect on the water. But for the hot water has faster moving molecules so the change of temperature slows down the molecules and freezes the water.Nick Manske

Wed, 02/12/2014 - 12:57

Guest

That was written by Madeleine W.

Wed, 02/12/2014 - 13:39

Guest

I think the reason that hot water turns into snow is because the spaces between the water is big and when the water gets cold it turns to water vapor after that it turns into snowEthan H

Wed, 02/12/2014 - 13:39

Guest

I think the reason that hot water turns into snow is because the spaces between the water is big and when the water gets cold it turns to water vapor after that it turns into snowEthan H

Wed, 02/12/2014 - 13:39

Guest

I think the reason that hot water turns into snow is because the spaces between the water is big and when the water gets cold it turns to water vapor after that it turns into snowEthan H

Wed, 02/12/2014 - 13:40

Guest

I think the reason that hot water turns into snow is because the spaces between the water is big and when the water gets cold it turns to water vapor after that it turns into snowEthan H

Wed, 02/12/2014 - 13:45

Guest

well i think that the hot water turned into snow because of the temperature of the water. since it was pretty hot and it meet cold air then it turned into snow. The cold water stayed the same because the water was cold and so was the air so it didn't change at all.Jason H

Wed, 02/12/2014 - 13:45

Guest

well i think that the hot water turned into snow because of the temperature of the water. since it was pretty hot and it meet cold air then it turned into snow. The cold water stayed the same because the water was cold and so was the air so it didn't change at all.Jason H

Wed, 02/12/2014 - 13:58

Guest

I think that since the temperature of the air was already cold, it did not affect the cold water leaving it with e same chemical structure it had as it did in the cup. However the hot water probably must have mixed with the cold air changing its chemical structure creating snow.
Keyla A.

Wed, 02/12/2014 - 14:25

Guest

I think that the molecules of the cold water are so condensed it does not allow the water to freeze as quickly, because there is very little room for the air to enter. Also, since the hot water was in the cup, its molecules were always hitting one another, keeping it hot, but when it was thrown out, its molecules were separated and it froze, while the cold waters molecules were already that spread out.

Wed, 02/12/2014 - 15:02

Guest

I think the hot water turned into snow because it was cold outside, and there was hardly any water vapor in the air, where as boiling water emits vapor, When you throw the water up in the air, it breaks into much smaller droplets, so there's even more surface for water vapor to come off

Wed, 02/12/2014 - 15:03

Guest

Katherine R ^

Wed, 02/12/2014 - 16:02

Guest

I think the hot water turned into snow because since the water was so hot when she throw it up in the air the hot stream made the water turn into snow. Also it has to be the heat of the water because the cold water is already cold that's why it doesn't react like the hot water do.
-Shamia C.