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Block of Ice Answer
Fri Jun 04, 2004
Listen in RealAudio 
Hi, I'm Bryan Yeaton for The Weather Notebook. Back in April, we asked a question
about the temperature inside a block of ice, when the air temperature was minus 50 or
so.
Here is Lars Benson, who is 5 years old: I think that the thermometer would tell the
temperature ... that's inside the ice which is 32 degrees ... and because the tip of the
thermometer that tells the temperature... That's in the ice and ... and water turns to ice
at 32 degrees.
Or as another listener put it: Any damn fool knows that the ice is 31 degrees.
But other listeners refute that, like Doug Saltmarsh from chilly Arizona:
I listen to you on KAWC radio. It might have started at 32 degrees above zero but it will
progressively get colder as it's exposed to the colder outside elements.
It is true that the temperature in the ice would be 32 degrees at first. But then, as Doug
pointed out, comes something called "thermal equilibrium."
Hi, this is Bernard Grisoni from Memphis, Tenn.: The ice temperature would decrease
until it reaches equilibrium temperature. In that case the thermometer would read 50
below zero.
This one wasn't even a challenge for Doug Boylan in Duluth, Minn.: I listen to you on
KUMD. Your question about the thermometer in the ice is a pretty simple one. As long
as the ice has time to cool off to the air temperature, it's gonna be -50 inside the block
of ice also. Pretty much high school chemistry or even junior high school
chemistry.
For Joshua Morrison of Lebanon, Ind.: The temperature inside the block of ice would
be negative 50. Otherwise, my physics teacher will be awfully upset.
We'll have another Brainstorm answer for you on Monday. The Weather Notebook is
supported by Subaru and the National Science Foundation.
Today's Links
Laws of Thermodynamics
http://hendrix.uoregon.edu/~stanm/phys162/thermo.html
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