What Is the Temperature for Freezing Water at Sea Level?
You may have learned the basics of water's freezing and boiling points in science class, but these physical properties of water depend on several variables, including altitude and additives. For precision, scientists use sea level as a basic altitude to standardize water's freezing point.
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Identification
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Pure water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit or 0 degrees Celsius at sea level. Physicists may use the Kelvin scale for greatest precision and refer to this rather as the melting point of ice, 273.152519 K.
Types
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Additives can change the temperature at which water freezes; sea water, for instance, freezes at a lower temperature. Other types of water are used mostly by scientists and engineers, such as "heavy water," made from a hydrogen ion; heavy water freezes at 3.82 degrees Celsius.
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Significance
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The precise freezing point of water will matter chiefly if you are conducting science experiments, in which case you should use distilled water to ensure its purity. For home freezing, the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service recommends keeping your freezer at 0 degrees Fahrenheit, well below the freezing point of water; if it is outdoor freezing you're concerned about, remember that a number of variables, such as wind and surface type, can change the effective freezing point of precipitation or standing water.
Fun Fact
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The Celsius temperature scale is based on the freezing and boiling points of pure water at sea level. The U.S. Metric Association provides several rhymes to help you remember that zero is the freezing point in Celsius.
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- Photo Credit Ice image by vilarcampos from Fotolia.com
