Ice cubes are not always clear
I spent a lot of trial and error to create crystal-clear ice cubes. You can see the results above. On the left are the standard ice cubes our freezer produces. On the right are ice cubes produced using the technique suggested here. Don't the ice cubes on the left look as if they have miniature clouds or fog trapped in them?
Are those white patches the same as clouds? Yes, in many ways, the whiteness and haziness that you see on the left forms in the same way that clouds form, with 3 major differences.
Why do ice cubes have white clouds in them?
Here are the three reasons:
How does this apply to other objects that are white in our environment?
What other objects have trapped air bubbles?
Here are three of 15 objects that look white
The reason I chose those three examples is to highlight that it is not only frozen water that holds trapped air bubbles in place. For example, in a beer head, it is the malt proteins that hold the gas bubbles. Similarly, in frothing saliva, it is liquid water with proteins + ions mixed in. Sea foam is an highly exaggerated form of "frothing". This foam forms when there is a lot of protein in the waves from decaying algae. Finally, in beaten egg whites, it is the protein material from the egg that holds the air.
Does it have to be air?
What other gasses create whiteness?
In summary, it does not matter what the gas is. As long as the gas reflects light, a disorganized group of trapped gas bubbles will appear white.
- Hijab, J. Ice cubes with entrapped air bubbles. Winter, 2018.
- Hijab, J. Frozen ice cubes, using system to remove air bubbles, Winter, 2018.
- Martin Garrido. Beer, Dec 27, 2011.
- devra . Spittling crab in Morro State Park Marina, July 5, 2010.
- Scott Mindeaux. whipped_egg_whites, July 6, 2005.
- F Delventhal. Ginger Ale, April 30, 2010.
- Fiona Henderson. Nitro Cold Brew, Feb 20, 2016.
- NASA Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble Sees New Dark Spot on Neptune, July 1, 2016.