Question

In your own words, describe why melting ice with salt freezes cream. Compare your descriptions to your classmates and describe how you could change the setup to freeze the cream faster, to produce colder temperatures or to cool other substances.

Answer 1

Water normally freezes at 0°C (32°F). Salt lowers the freezing temperature. (That is, it can remain a liquid at much lower temperatures.)

When sprinkled on ice, the salt lowers the freezing temperature of the water which effectively melts the ice when the salt dissolves into it. There is a limit to how low it can reduce the temperature, though. If the temperature drops below -9°C (15°F), it's too cold for the salt to dissolve into the ice.

When making ice cream, the salt lowers the temperature of the ice and water sufficiently enough to freeze the cream.