Accidental supercooling

[tugrik]

I keep the soda machines in the shop finely tuned. The goal is to have them as utterly cold as possible without actually freezing the drinks. On a hot day there's nothing nicer than a cold cola that's so cold it almost hurts.

However, I can't do sugared sodas any more; I had to fill a few slots with various diet colas and sugarfree lemonades. I don't even drink those very often as I mostly stick to iced tea these days. Still, the occasional Coke Zero is a welcome thing.

I forgot that sugar-free soda and sugar-full soda have different freezing temps. What is a perfect thermostat balance for a standard coke is about 1.8 degrees too cold for Coke Zero. And with how still the machines sit (and how cleanly Coke packages them), it's quite possible to get the cans below freezing temperature without anything actually crystallizing. That's exactly where the machine is now.

Take out a Coke Zero. Crack it gently. Nothing happens -- it's liquid -- until you take a sip. Touching the surface is all that you need to seed the ice crystal formation. The feel of something suddenly turning into ice on your lips is WEIRD. And you'd better drink or pour fast. If you don't get about 1/3rd of the soda out of the can real quick prepare to run for the sink... *CANFOUNTAIN*

As long as they don't go ker-splodey in the machine, this is kind of neat. I had to crack and pour a 2nd can just to confirm what was going on and watch it foam-freeze in the glass. :)

EDIT: As per Spotweld's request, here's an attempt to film it with the iphone:

Comments

[spotweld.livejournal.com]

It'd be kinda cool to see a youtube video of that.

[tugrik.livejournal.com]

I hate wasting more soda than I already have... but hrrm, let me try. I just gotta find a clear glass in the shop so it'll show up better. If I succeed I'll post a link. :)

[tugrik.livejournal.com]

There you go, cheap attempt at a vid posted. Reload. :)

[spotweld.livejournal.com]

Very awesome
Thanks!!

[coyoteseven.livejournal.com]

Props to you for choosing Coke Zero. If you also had Diet 7-Up and Dr. Pepper Diet, it'd be soda heaven.

Alas I only have this pic of an old can of Diet Squirt to use. At least I drew it! :D

[diadexxus.livejournal.com]

I have seen this happen!! Wasnt sure EXACTLY what happened at the time but that makes sense.

Neato!
-J

[thornwolf.livejournal.com]

I can't do sugar sodas anymore either, Coke Zero has been a nice alternative to Diet Coke!

But I didn't know that about the freezing temps, that is interesting!

[coyoteseven.livejournal.com]

Oh, so THAT's what's been happening to my soda in my mini-fridge. I guess I better dial it down a little bit. lol

[chipuni.livejournal.com]

Okay. That officially qualifies as Cold Enough.

[barberio.livejournal.com]

Coca-Cola tried doing this deliberately for a while in UK test markets with expanding bottles of sprite to produce a vending-machine slushy in a bottle

[hgryphon.livejournal.com]

Super cool...

[zrath.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, diet sodas don't work like normal sodas.
Personally, I don't like all this freezing business. I get soda for the carbonation. MOAR BUBLZ PLZ!!!
That's why I usually get food to go and eat at home where I can have my precious BUBLZ. :D

[theassassinnox.livejournal.com]

Haha, how strange!

[bluedeer.livejournal.com]

I've had that happen before! I always wondered what the heck was causing it, just figured it was cold enough that the water in the soda was hitting some freezing point but I never noticed that it'd do it after the can was opened. That's pretty weird!

SCIENCE!

[likeshine.livejournal.com]

i actually have a habit of putting my coke zero in the freezer for 20-30 minutes before consuming :)

[bbot.org (from livejournal.com)]

Thin energy drink cans like to fractionally distill themselves in-can when supercooled. You end up with a can full of spongy water ice, and about 100ml of sugar and caffeine syrup.

[leonard-arlotte.livejournal.com]

I think part of the reason the soda doesn't freeze in the can is the pressure caused by the carbonation lowers the freezing point slightly. Once opened, and fizzing, the liquid's freezing point comes up above the actual temperature of the liquid, allowing it to freeze. The foam freezes into a slush because it is diffuse enough to let the ice crystals form faster.

This is all off the top of my head, from chemistry class over 20 years ago. Someone with less dusty science in their head can probably run the numbers for you, and either verify this, or correct me. (Which I don't mind if I'm wrong)

In any case, this is pretty nifty.

[revar.livejournal.com]

That is a rockin' mad science logo.

[leonard-arlotte.livejournal.com]

Thanks. It's from the one conbadge i've ever had made. It was done by jirris_midvale

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

That is awesome. }:D