How Does Supercooled Work?

Supercooling is the process of chilling a liquid below its freezing point, without it becoming solid. A liquid below its freezing point will crystallize in the presence of a seed crystal or nucleus around which a crystal structure can form.

How does water become supercooled?

When the temperature of the water is below freezing, the water has been supercooled. You can make the water freeze by pouring it over a piece of ice or by dropping a small piece of ice into the glass.

What is supercooling and why does it happen?

Supercooling is when a substance is temporarily cooled below its freezing point without becoming a solid. This occurs when heat is removed from a liquid so rapidly that the molecules do not have enough time to align themselves in the ordered structure of a solid.