Mystery of why hot water freezes faster than cold is solved

Scientists claim to have solved the mystery of why hot water freezes faster than cold and it is because the strange behavior of atom bonds.

The Mpemba effect is the theory that warmer water can freeze faster than colder water.

Scientists have known the phenomenon since the time of Aristotle in Ancient Greece, but until now they have struggled to explain why.

A research by Nanyang Technological University in Singapore has revealed the bonds that hold water molecules together cause the effect.

A water molecule is made from an oxygen atom joined to two hydrogen atoms with covalent bonds (a bond that involves the sharing of two electron pairs). When a hydrogen atom drifts close to an oxygen atom, it bonds with it, creating a hydrogen bond. It’s the strange behaviour of these bonds that explains the Mpemba effect.

The Mpemba effect, named after Erasto Mpemba, is the assertion that warmer water can freeze faster than colder water. Although there is anecdotal support for the effect, there is no agreement on exactly what the effect is and under what circumstances it occurs. There have been reports of similar phenomena since ancient times, although with insufficient detail for the claims to be replicated.

The phenomenon seems contrary to intuition, but a number of possible explanations for the effect have been proposed. Further investigations will need to decide on a precise definition of “freezing” and control a vast number of starting parameters in order to confirm or explain the effect.