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I've experienced taking a liquid ice bar sealed in plastic and it suddenly is completely frozen. Could this be sublimation?

User Darkend
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Final answer:

Sublimation is the transition from a solid to a gaseous state without going through a liquid stage. The liquid ice bar freezing is not an example of sublimation, which occurs with solids like dry ice. Freeze-drying food is a common example of the sublimation process.

Step-by-step explanation:

Sublimation is the process by which a solid transitions directly into a gas phase without passing through the intermediate liquid phase. This can happen with various materials under certain conditions, such as with dry ice (solid CO₂), which sublimes at room temperature, and with snow and ice, which can sublime at temperatures below the melting point of water.

In your case, the liquid inside the ice bar was not sublimating since it was already in a liquid state. For sublimation to occur, the substance must start as a solid. Examples of sublimation include the disappearance of snow or ice without melting or the use of freeze-drying to create dehydrated foods.

Freeze-dried foods, such as ice cream, are a practical application of sublimation where water is removed from the food by sublimation at pressures below the triple point for water. This leaves the food dehydrated without the structure being significantly altered.

User Trialcritic
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