Instructional Video

Does Hot Water Freeze Faster Than Cold Water?

Curated and Reviewed by Lesson Planet

Hot water freezing faster than cold water is called the Mpemba effect. The interesting video analyzes the concept of water temperature and its effect on freezing rates. The narrator explores past experiments showing this effect and discusses when the case is true for hot water freezing before cold. Although asking whether hot water freezes faster than cold water is a great question, the narrator admits he cannot truly give a definitive answer. 

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CCSS: Adaptable
NGSS: Adaptable
Additional Tags
Instructional Ideas
  • Make ice cream in class and have two batches — one made with cold water and one made with hot water — to see which freezes first
  • Have pairs research the Mpemba effect (how it was discovered, by whom, and if it is true) and share their findings with the class
Classroom Considerations
  • Video is appropriate for middle and high school learners
  • This video is hosted on YouTube
Pros
  • Pop-up boxes throughout the video are links to other related videos
  • Turning on auto-translate in the settings allows viewers of many different languages to watch the video in their native language through closed captioning
Cons
  • None
Common Core
NGSS