Ice
hideIce is a solid phase, usually crystalline, of a non-metallic substance that is liquid or gas at room temperature, such as carbon dioxide ice (dry ice), ammonia ice, or methane ice. However, the predominant use of the term ice is for water ice, technically restricted to one of the 15 known crystalline phases of water. In non-scientific contexts, the term usually means ice Ih, which is known to be the most abundant of these solid phases. It can appear transparent or opaque bluish-white colour, depending on the presence of impurities or air inclusions. The addition of other materials such as soil may further alter the appearance.
The most common phase transition to ice Ih occurs when liquid water is cooled below 0°C (273.15K, 32°F) at standard atmospheric pressure. It can also deposit from vapour with no intervening liquid phase, such as in the formation of frost.
Ice appears in nature in forms as varied as snowflakes, hail, icicles, glaciers, pack ice, and entire polar ice caps. It is an important component of the global climate, and plays an important role of the water cycle. Furthermore, ice has numerous cultural applications, from ice cooling of drinks to winter sports and the art of (ice sculpting).
The word is derived from Old English ís, which in turn stems from Proto-Germanic *isaz.
For more information about Ice, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with ice
Icy moons of Saturn and Jupiter may have conditions needed for life
Dec 15, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (15) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists once thought that life could originate only within a solar system's "habitable zone," where a planet would be neither too hot nor too cold for liquid water to exist on its surface. ...
Greenland glaciers: What lies beneath
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 15, 2009 |
3.8 / 5 (4) |
1
Scientists who study the melting of Greenland's glaciers are discovering that water flowing beneath the ice plays a much more complex role than they previously imagined.
Portions of Arctic coastline eroding, no end in sight, says new study
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 14, 2009 |
3.9 / 5 (7) |
4
The northern coastline of Alaska midway between Point Barrow and Prudhoe Bay is eroding by up to one-third the length of a football field annually because of a "triple whammy" of declining sea ice, warming ...
Studying ice crystals to understand the cloud-climate connection
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 14, 2009 |
4 / 5 (4) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Beginning in mid-December, scientists will undertake a special mission to squeeze the secrets out of ice crystals in cirrus clouds. The SPARTICUS, or Small Particles in Cirrus, campaign will ...
Scientists isolate new antifreeze molecule in Alaska beetle
Dec 14, 2009 |
5 / 5 (13) |
4
Scientists have identified a novel antifreeze molecule in a freeze-tolerant Alaska beetle able to survive temperatures below minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Unlike all previously described biological antifreezes that contain ...
Kansas scientists probe mysterious possible comet strikes on Earth
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Dec 14, 2009 |
4.2 / 5 (12) |
8
It's the stuff of a Hollywood disaster epic: A comet plunges from outer space into the Earth's atmosphere, splitting the sky with a devastating shock wave that flattens forests and shakes the countryside.
