Supercooling of water in glass capillaries

Abstract

Freezing temperatures of water in large glass tubes where the air-water interface was outside the freezing zone could be related to the volume or surface area of the samples. It was shown that water in thin films on conventionally cleaned glass surface tends to freeze in the same manner as water in the full capillary. Samples of distilled water contained in 2-20 μm diameter freshly drawn tubes were supercooled to temperatures predicted by the theory of homogeneous nucleation, for volumes equivalent to drops 8-40 μm in diameter. For larger volumes the freezing temperatures departed from the homogeneous nucleation law. The freezing temperatures were proportional to the volume of the samples regardless of whether a given size sample was prepared by using a larger length of water column in a small tube or a smaller column in a big tube. The results therefore dispel any belief of the possible effect of surface forces on the degree of supercooling obtainable in glass tubes.