Experiment 6: Hot Ice
In traversing the wide Information Superhighway, I found NurdRage's very neat hot ice video. I used his homemade method and used 1 liter of clear vineagar to 3 tablespoons of baking soda. His method worked very well. When I boiled it down, I did not notice a floating crust but rather a quick-forming rim of crystal around the pot. Once I saw that (it took a while), I immediately took the sodium acetate trihydrate (the end result) off the stove and cooled it in the refrigerator. When I stuck my finger in to see if it was cold, it froze! I was happy that I had made it work on the first try. After I microwaved it for 30 seconds and cooled it again, I placed a crystal of the sodium acetate trihydrate in and it froze very nicely and beautifully. My solution actually turned out to be quite clear. The experiment gave a warm feeling of satisfaction and was also quite warm physically, due to the exothermic freezing reaction.