stupid science question

[hoggie]

Sorry my faculties are deserting me and I can't for the life of me come up with an answer for this one. I have a half an answer hovering on the outskirts of my consciousness but can't quite focus on it (anyone else ever get that )

Last night we were eating hot crumble and ice cream. My daughter wants to know why, if the ice cream is freezing and the crumble is very hot, the hot crumble melts the ice cream and the ice cream doesn't make the crumble freeze???

Anyone??

TIA

hoggie

[lilmommajnn]

The ice cream cools the hot crumble and they will eventually reach the same temperature...and if there is enough ice cream that the hot crumble doesn't manage to melt it all, it will freeze it.

[steff bugielski]

That does happen all the time .

[Wildwood Flower]

The temperature of the room is adding to the melting. If you put the whole thing in the refrigerator, it would all freeze.

[YoYoDog]

As best as I can explain it, it has to do with the temp at which the two forms of matter that you combine will change state. There are four states of matter, solid, liquid, gas, and plasma. (I won't even get into plasma, most people my age were taught that there were only three states) Each form of matter has a different temp at which it changes state. Because the crumble is near the temp of the melting point of ice cream, the ice cream will melt.

Most things will melt because the melting point is close to one of the two forms of matter that you are combining. The only example that works against this that I can think of is if you combined dry ice and water. (NOT a safe thing to do!). Because the dry ice is below the temp that water freezes the water will turn to ice. I hope this helps a little, or at least sparks some questions to ask the teacher.

[YoYoDog]

By the way, the only stupid question is the one not asked.

JMHO

Dan

[Scrounger]

Originally Posted by Wildwood Flower

The temperature of the room is adding to the melting. If you put the whole thing in the refrigerator, it would all freeze.

.....And if you put it in an oven at 350°, it would all melt.....

(it wouldn't freeze in the fridge, either......)

[Oggie]

So, why doesn't hot crumble freeze?
It's called kinetic energy if you please.
Atoms excited,
heat ignited.
Electrons jump 'round just like them fleas.

Simple theorem, so it's solved, but wait.
Ambient temperature might also sway fate.
Dish is hot.
Room is not.
You'll need equations 'cause the math is not straight.

And then to physics you must soon refer.
And think about how the heat is transferred.
There's viscosity
air velocity
My! The whole things a blur!

With all of this I find my self humble.
Math proofs? Well, they soon start to tumble.
Yet still, she asks
Takes you to task
Just tell her, "Frost fairies, they just don't like crumble."

[sage_morgan]

Are the crumble and ice cream in equal amounts? Are they equal distances from a presumed equilibrium (the temp it would be if you let it sit til it got to room temperature?)

If there's more crumble, there's likely to be more melting than freezing and vice versa

The laws of thermodynamics apply here, about hot things and cold things tending to cool and warm, respectively, but I couldn't find one of those laws that actually made sense to me, sorry.

HTH!

[Nessa's Nannies]

Oggie, you amaze me...

[Boleyz]

Oggie Makes his science rhyme,
He seems to do it all the time.
On any place or any thread,
You always notice what he's said.

He thinks his poetry is fine,
He thinks just he can speak in rhyme,
But little would he dare suspect,
Boleyz may be the better yet.

So while he makes us laugh and smile,
and lays out rhymes like vinyl tile,
Remember as he pens his tome,
With Boleyz here, he's not alone.

[rwinsouthla]

It's called specific heat. Ever noticed how grits or oatmeal or cream of wheat stay hot for a long time but burn the crap out of you when you go to take a bite? This situation is because the crumbles have a higher specific heat (or btus per lb of crumbles) than the ice cream does. In other words, they have more btus of heat per pound than the ice cream does. Another way to look at it is visuallizing two equally sized rods, one made of solid carbon steel and one made of solid pine wood. If you heat them both up to 200 degrees, then set them out on a table side by side to cool off, the wood cools off quicker because the carbon steel has a higher specific heat (therefore, it holds more btus at 200 degrees than the wood does).

Also, the crumbles are at about 150 degrees and the ice cream is VERY close to melting when you pull it out of the freezer (like 25 or so). So the crumbles don't have to cool off much (and thereby sending heat to the ice cream) to make the ice cream melt. If, for example purposes, the ice cream and the crumbles have similar specific heats (and they don't), the crumbles cooling off by 10 degrees (to 140) would make the ice cream temp rise to 35. The ice cream would melt but the crumbles still "feel" hot, but they have actually cooled a bit.

[hoggie]

Thank you all - I caqn goback to her armed with the answer and see if I can find a way of simplifying it for her LOL

hoggie

[Tater Farm]

To make a proper hypothesis - I will need a large sample of the hot crumble and ice cream in question. As with any good experiment, I'll be setting aside a control sample to compare the results against. Seconds---

[Rocky Fields]

Hoggie,

The correct answer is:

The first statement of the 2nd law of thermodynamics - heat flows spontaneously from a hot to a cold body - tells us that an ice cube must melt on a hot day ...

link: http://theory.uwinnipeg.ca/mod_tech/node79.html

RF

[Wolf mom]

Everyone's given you good answers BUT what I think is so great is that

You have a thinking, questioning daughter!