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WHAT IS HOT ICE?

Hot ice is NOT ice from water as you know it. Hot ice is just a popular name for a substance called sodium acetate trihydrate. This substance is white crystalline solid at room temperature and melts at 58 degrees Celsius into a liquid. Hot ice is crystallized sodium acetate trihydrate. If normal sodium acetate dissolved in water crystallises it will generate heat(it's called an exothermic reaction), that's why it's called hot ice. So hot ice isn't real ice: water/H2O in it's solid state. It's crystallized sodium acetate dissolved in water

Molecular formulas: Sodium Acetate: NaCH3COO Sodium Acetate trihydrate: . NaCH3COO 3H2O

WHY DOES THE HOT ICE EFFECT OCCUR?


We all know that almost everything has a freezing point, cool something low enough and it freezes at a characteristic temperature. Now for something cold to actually solidify the molecules need to rearrange from liquid arrangement into solid or crystalline arrangement. This is what freezing is. The interesting part is that it's possible to cool something below its freezing point and if the molecules don't rearrange then it remains liquid despite being below its freezing point. This effect is called supercooling. The amazing part is that a supercooled liquid will rapidly start freezing if you introduce a disturbance, like touching it, or better yet, an already solid piece of the substance. Very pure water and some drinks exhibit supercooling and you can find such videos on YouTube. The supercooling effect with sodium acetate trihydrate is one of the easiest to perform, is nontoxic and safe to do, which is why it's selected to make hot ice. So hot ice is simply sodium acetate trihydrate that's been heated above its melting point of 58 Celsius so it liquefies, and then carefully cooled below it's melting point so its supercooled. The dramatic freezing is initiated by a disturbance such as touch or a solid piece of another substance with the right molecular arrangement. Making Hot Ice - Homemade method Ingredients 1 liter of vinegar 3 table spoons of baking soda Just get 1 liter of clear vinegar and add in 3 table spoons of baking soda. Then boil the mixture down. Continue boiling until you see a crust form on the surface of the liquid. If crust is forming on the dry walls of the pot then stir those back into solution. The important thing is to watch for the crust floating *on* the liquid. As soon as you see this crust, immediately take it off heating and pour it into a jar or other clean glass container. Stir the hot liquid in the container and add tiny amounts of water until the crust completely dissolves. ALL THE CRUST OF SODIUM ACETATE MUST BE DISSOLVED!!! Once all of the crust is dissolved, cover the solution with a lid and place the container in the fridge to cool it down.

Now you can do all the hot ice experiments! Making Hot Ice - Other methods A really crazy way of making sodium acetate trihydrate is to mix 60 milliliters of water with 60 milliliters of pure glacial acetic acid and then add in 40 grams of sodium hydroxide. Unfortunately this is rather dangerous as it boils itself as it's mixed. Afterward the boiling crust method is used to determine the exact point where the hot ice will work best. Purchasing "ready made" Hot Ice Moving on, instead of making sodium acetate trihydrate, the best thing to do is buy it. This cheaper for larger amounts and gives the best quality hot ice. There are two commonly available forms, sodium acetate trihydrate, and pure sodium acetate. Both sodium acetate trihydrate and sodium acetate can be purchased online. Sometimes sodium acetate will have the name sodium acetate anhydrous. This is sodium acetate without the trihydrate. It doesn't really matter which one you buy, both can be used to make hot ice. Unfortunately sodium acetate trihydrate is sometimes called sodium acetate. If you don't know exactly which one you bought, you can test it by placing some of it into a container and putting it in a boiling water bath. Sodium acetate trihydrate as seen here will melt when heated to the boiling point of water. At this point you can simply take it out, cool it and then you can use it directly for hot ice. You can directly heat your bulk sodium acetate trihydrate to make hot ice. Sodium acetate on the other hand will not melt when heated in this way. But it can easily be converted to sodium acetate trihydrate by adding in enough boiling water to completely dissolve it while hot. It's best to do this part while its on the boiling water bath. The ratio of water is about 2 mL of water for every 3 grams of sodium acetate. If it completely liquefies while on the boiling water bath, then it's converted to sodium acetate trihydrate and it's ready for use. Notes: If it turns yellow or brown, that's ok. But don't boil it too far or it will burn. When adding the baking soda. Go SLOWLY or it will fizz over and make a mess. You need to boil it down because the vinegar contains too much water for the sodium acetate to work as hot ice. You cannot use copper pots because the vinegar seems to dissolve copper upon boiling, contaminating your product and damaging your pot. Reusing the hot ice: When you want to do the "hot ice" freezing reaction, just warm the mixture over a stove or dip in a hot water bath until it completely melts. A microwave also works. iIf it does not completely melt then some of it must have dried out, just add a little water and try heating it again. Then let it cool down. If you find it freezes by itself when you're cooling then you need to make sure you completely melt every last bit of sodium acetate. You can also cover the container to prevent it from drying while cooling down. The drying will cause it to freeze before you can use it. Covering it stops this.

Once it's liquid and cooled, have fun! Frequently Asked Questions: Q. Is hot ice cold? can i use it drinks? There is a misconception among some people that sodium acetate gets colder when the freezing process occurs. Actually the opposite occurs: When it quick-freezes it actually warms up. That's one of the reasons why it's called "hot ice". When it's completely frozen it'll stop warming up and cool down to ambient temperature. It just so happens that everything which freezes into a solid from a liquid state will generate heat a bit of heat, even regular ice. But this is usually not noticeable by human beings, you need to make precise measurements to see this effect. Sodium acetate on the other hand does it fast enough and generates enough heat to actually feel in your hand. Q. Does it ever remelt? Sodium acetate trihydrate in its natural state at room temperature is solid, so it'll stay solid forever. As mentioned in the introduction the reason why it's liquid when we work with it is because of the supercooling effect. Q. Is hot ice edible? Hot ice is not edible, It's not toxic, but it tastes REALLY bad. So its pretty much not edible. Q. Why can't you just touch it? Unfortunately, due to a viral video, a lot of you are going to ask why can't I just initiate it with touch or with a toothpick. The answer is you can, but it's not reliable, sometimes touching it repeatedly will have no effect. Only a solid piece of sodium acetate is perfectly reliable. Q. My hot ice doesn't freeze, how do i fix it? One of the biggest problems with hot ice is that it doesn't freeze. Now to fix it, as show in the video, adding vinegar and boiling it down again fixes most hot ice problems. Just keep repeating the cycle until you get something that does freeze. Q. My hot ice liquid is mushy while it's hot and it doesn't freeze or stays mushy when it's cold. If you're hot ice is mushy or pasty like this, treat it like the previous fix and add more vinegar with subsequent heating. Adding vinegar is pretty much the universal fix for hot ice that's mushy and/or doesn't freeze. Q. My hot ice freezes while I cool it before I can use it, how do I stop it from freezing? Another big problem is premature freezing. This is caused by unmelted bits of sodium acetate. You need to heat it up high enough to completely dissolve everything. And you must cover it so the moisture doesn't escape, causing surface crystallization that initiates freezing. Another cause is not enough water, so add in extra water if you find it freezing despite dissolving and covering. Warning: Cover the solution AFTER you boil it, not before. Otherwise your container might explode from the steam pressure. Alternatively, don't use an air tight covering. Q. Can you reuse hot ice?

Hot ice can be reused very easily by reheating or microwaving it. Just remember to keep it covered. If you keep things as clean as possible and avoid contamination, you can reuse hot ice hundreds of times. Q. How cold does it have to be after you cool it? Liquid sodium acetate trihydrate is supercooled when it's below 58 Celsius. But for best results you should cool it down to room temperature or lower. So as long as it feels cold it's fine. Q. Can this be taken to school? Some people have tried this for a school project. A problem though is that while you transport the liquid from home to school it might accidentally start freezing due to the disturbance. It's best to remelt it once you arrive at school. Your teacher should be willing to help you... unless they're asses. Q. I want more or less than what you have. If you want more or less than what I made, you'll have to mathematically scale the ingredients to change the final product amount. For very large amounts, I recommend just buying it directly. Q. Can i use baking powder? A lot of people ask this, but you cannot use baking powder, it contains other ingredients that interfere. You must use baking soda. Q. I forgot to save solid sodium acetate for initiation. What can I do? If you forgot to save sodium acetate for initiation then you can still initiate freezing using some baking soda. A better way though is to get some of your hot ice liquid and leave it out to dry. Eventually a piece of dust or something will land on it and initiate freezing, then you can use these crystals to initiate your bulk hot ice. Q. Is hot ice hard like real ice? Hot ice is not hard, actually its pretty soft, about the consistency of ice cream. Q. It's REALLY brown, is there something wrong? Hot ice made at home will have impurities present in the ingredients, this is unavoidable. The only way to get perfectly clear hot ice is to buy pure sodium acetate directly. Q. Can I use brown vinegar? Brown vinegar, or any vinegar other than clear vinegar cannot be used because the impurities will interfere with the hot ice formation. Q. Are my containers safe to use for food after I make hot ice? Hot ice is non-toxic and your containers will be fine. Just thoroughly wash them.

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