Supercooled Water and Thermal Conductivity (2012)
Undergraduates: Sneha Gadi, none Stephen Shafroth, James Brownridge none
Faculty Advisor: Steve Shafroth
Department: Physics & Astronomy
In this experiment, the thermal conductivity of regular water is compared to supercooled water. Furthermore the effects of using deuterium molecules are observed. When the temperature of a test tube of water is measured at certain intervals from the bottom, which was in an ice bath, it was observed that the different water levels above the bottom level took a certain time to decrease in temperature. When the bottom layer was in antifreeze, however, such that its temperature was below zero, signifying its supercooled state, the top layers changed temperatures much more quickly. This effect can be described by the changes in density between slightly above-freezing water and supercooled water. The addition of deuterium molecules also help explain the end result. The fact that the thermal conductivity of water can be increased by supercooling it can be very beneficial in aiding with research in creating better superconductors that can help use electricity more efficiently.