Wednesday, March 3, 2010

ice-steam-ice

So... Water freezes at 32 degrees and boils at 212 degrees**. That's a difference of 180 degrees. Expressed in angular terms, 180 degrees is a half-rotation and 360 degrees is a full rotation. If someone "pulls a 180," they're doing the opposite of what they previously did. Similarly... steam is kind of the opposite of ice... right?

So my question is this:

If you boil water to 392 degrees... would it TURN BACK IN TO ICE??!! (392-32=360 degrees.)

You're welcome.

**This only applies if you're using "real" temperatures (as opposed to the metric system). I'm pretty sure the ice-steam-ice thing wouldn't work in Canada since their water boils at different temperatures.