Have you ever wondered why wine takes longer to freeze than water does?
Read this article, and you'll find out!
Water has a freezing point of 0 degrees Celsius (Advameg Inc.). When a solute is present in water, it lowers the freezing point. This is because the solute particles interrupt the normal freezing process and slow it down when the solution is trying to transition from a liquid to a solid. Therefore, the freezing point of a solution of water and a solute will be lower than the freezing point of pure water (Poudre School District). This lowering of the freezing point is a colligative property known as freezing point depression.
In places with extremely cold temperatures, antifreeze is a necessity for your car. Antifreeze is a compound known as ethylene glycol (Taylor). When your car is running during the winter, there isn't a problem of your radiator freezing. However, when your car is idle and it's parked in the cold weather, antifreeze helps to keep your radiator from freezing (Taylor). In order for the antifreeze to do its job, it has to be mixed with water. Once it's mixed with water, the freezing point lowers and makes it less likely that your radiator will freeze.
As you can see, colligative properties dance in the world around us. Without the colligative property known as freezing point depression, our cars would not be able to be driven after a cold night. The radiator might crack and the car would be unusable until the radiator is replaced. Antifreeze is just one of many colligative properties that help us enjoy life. We just have to take the time to notice each and every one of them.
Bibliography:
1. Taylor, Charles. "Colligative Properties." FDTC Chemistry Web Site. N.p., 2007.
Web. 7 May 2013.
<http://scienceattech.com/html_pages/CHM_111_ColligativeProperties_r2.html>.
2. Poudre School District. "Freezing Point Depression." psdschools.org.
Poudre School District, n.d. Web. 5 May 2013.
<http://staffweb.psdschools.org/rjensen/powerpoints/colligative_properties.pdf>.
3. Advameg Inc. "Freezing Point Depression." Chemistry Explained. Advameg,n.d. Web. 5 May 2013.<http://www.chemistryexplained.com/Ce-Co/Colligative-Properties.html>.
