Why do ice cubes vanish in a glass of water?
Image: Gonfer, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
universality means in phase transitions
Why do ice cubes vanish in a glass of water?
Imagine pouring hot coffee into a glass. You notice the ice cubes disappear without melting. What's happening?
The ice cubes vanish because they're undergoing a phase transition. Instead of melting, they turn into liquid water that blends with the coffee. The technical term for this phenomenon is the "critical point" of water.
Example
The ice cubes (solid water) at 0°C (273 K) transition to liquid water at the same temperature when mixed with coffee (a liquid).
Remember this
The critical point concept explains why ice disappears in coffee without melting.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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