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The spontaneous crystallization of supercooled water
Author(s) -
Mason B. J.
Publication year - 1952
Publication title -
quarterly journal of the royal meteorological society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.744
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1477-870X
pISSN - 0035-9009
DOI - 10.1002/qj.49707833503
Subject(s) - supercooling , clear ice , ice nucleus , ice crystals , nucleation , crystallization , materials science , amorphous ice , thermodynamics , meteorology , crystallography , chemistry , physics , sea ice , arctic ice pack , amorphous solid , antarctic sea ice
It is shown theoretically that the rate of nucleation of the ice phase in supercooled water changes very rapidly with temperature in the neighbourhood of −40°C. Thus, in chilling a supercooled water cloud below this temperature one would expect to observe a rapid increase in the number of ice crystals which appear as the temperature falls. This is verified by observations made in a cold chamber. The different critical temperatures for the spontaneous appearance of ice crystals quoted by Schaefer (−39°) and the Oxford workers (−41°C) probably arise as the result of differences in the experimental conditions. It is tentatively suggested that the parts of mother‐of‐pearl clouds showing iridescence at temperatures around −80°C consist of spheres of ‘glassy’ ice, which may eventually crystallize spontaneously to form ice crystals towards the leeward edges of the cloud.