BobToday
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As you are probably already aware, ice is frozen water. At a temperature of 32F (0C), water changes from a liquid state to a solid state. At the same time, contrary to most other forms of matter, water expands. Because of the expansion, the density of ice is lower than that of water. This means that the same volume of water weighs more than the same volume of ice. This is the reason why ice floats. Of course, none of this answers your question as to how ice makes drinks colds, but I’m getting to that.
Another question related to how ice cools drinks is often asked: Does the coldness go from the ice to the drink or does the warmth go from the drink to the ice? It is important to understand that coldness doesn’t exist as its own entity. Coldness is scientifically defined as the absence of heat. This means that ice cools a drink by transferring the heat of the drink into the ice. Cold things absorb the heat around them. As ice pulls in the heat from the drink, the ice warms up past 32F and begins to melt.
This brings up the question as to why the ice pulls in the heat and for this answer we look again at science. In physics, the movement of heat is called heat transfer or conduction. As a rule, heat moves from areas of high concentration to areas of low concentration. The universe wants to be all one temperature. It doesn’t like when some things are hot and some things are cold. Heat is always moving to places or other objects without heat. If you place several different temperature items in a box, in time, eventually all the objects will become the same temperature as long as the items don’t generate any new heat. So, the heat of the drink goes into the ice, the melts and the drink is cooled. If the air temperature is warmer than the drink, the heat begins to move from the air to the drink, making it warm again.
 Posted 5427 day ago
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