how come ice cubes shrink after they have been in the freezer for a long time?
The ice sublimes to vapor over time, much like carbon dioxide, but at a much slower rate.
Well ok but why does it turn to vapor? But thanks!! This is still helpful!! :)
I'm just not understanding why something frozen could become a gas without adding heat!
sublime means it turns to vapor, the vapor goes off, and less ice is there.
heat is added to the ice, it takes heat from its surroundings to sublime. It does not have to seem hot to you.
Doesn't dry ice sublime even in an icecream freezer?
OK Thanks!!!!!!!
Ice cubes shrink after being in the freezer for a long time due to a process called sublimation. Sublimation is when a substance changes directly from a solid to a gas without going through the liquid phase. This happens when the ice cubes are exposed to very low humidity in the freezer.
To understand why sublimation occurs, we need to consider the concept of vapor pressure. Every substance has a vapor pressure, which is the pressure exerted by its gas molecules when they are in equilibrium with the substance in its solid or liquid form. In the case of ice, the vapor pressure is the pressure exerted by water vapor molecules when they are in equilibrium with the ice.
In a freezer, the air is usually very dry, which means the humidity is low. Since the air in the freezer has low humidity, it has a lower concentration of water vapor molecules compared to the ice cubes. This creates a concentration gradient, where there are more water molecules in the ice cubes than in the air.
Due to this concentration gradient, the water molecules from the ice cubes start to evaporate into the air, even at temperatures below the freezing point of water. The water molecules gain enough energy from their surroundings to break the bonds holding them in the solid state, becoming water vapor in the process.
As time goes on, more and more water molecules escape from the ice cubes, causing them to shrink in size. This is because the ice is losing mass as the water molecules transform directly into gas, without passing through the liquid phase. Eventually, if left in the freezer for a long time, the ice cubes can completely evaporate, leaving no visible trace behind.
So, to sum it up, ice cubes shrink in the freezer due to sublimation, where the low humidity causes water molecules to transform directly from a solid state to a gaseous state without becoming a liquid.