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Reply to Burridge & Linden: Hot water may freeze sooner than cold

Popular Physics 2017-01-30 v2 Statistical Mechanics

Abstract

In a recent paper in Scientific Reports, Burridge \& Linden misinterpret the Mpemba effect as a statement about the rate of cooling of liquid water, when it is in fact a statement about the rate of freezing of water. Debunking an obviously absurd claim about cooling, they miss the significant effect, its only quantitative experimental study and a theoretical argument that explains the effect and predicts that it occurs only for "hard" water (water with significant dissolved Mg and Ca bicarbonates). This prediction remains to be tested.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1701.03219,
  title  = {Reply to Burridge & Linden: Hot water may freeze sooner than cold},
  author = {J. I. Katz},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1701.03219},
  year   = {2017}
}

Comments

4 pp; added reference and minor changes