Someone PLEASE explain this...

I pulled an ice cube tray out of my freezer and below is what I saw. I know for fact that there is no drip from above. Even if it were a drip it should be straight not at an angle. Any ideas as to what caused this? It is actually kind of cool. I'm going to try to preserve it.

 

I have no idea but if it lasts for more than 4 hours I would see a doctor.

 

LOL!

 

Sure your not adding Viagra to the water? Jay.

 

I think I can see where this thread is going...

DANG! Weirder and weirder. I guess I won't have to take it to the doctor, it's mostly gone. I just went to look again and it is just a stub (I can already see the posts on that line...).

I AM serious though. I'd love to know what caused this. When it formed the 'stalagmite' the cube was not totally frozen. It is like as it was freezing it pushed it out then drew it back in as it finished freezing. It makes no sense to me. I swear that it is not a doctored photo or anything that I set up. This occurred naturally.

 

Would it be possible to set up a time lapse security camera in your freezer?

 

I googled it and here is one explanation.
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/aprilholladay/2005-10-24-ice-spikes_x.htm

 

PS. I know absolutely nothing about anything other than how to use google and people think I'm cleaver lol

 

Very Interesting, Jay. I have never seen one in my lifetime.

 

Awwwwww hahahahahahahaha good one Barry.

 

Thank you! That is pretty cool. The water here must be pretty clean as I use tap water in the trays. I DO see experiments with distilled water in the future. Things like this fascinate me. The fridge in my apartment is quite good. If I turn the control higher than about 7 it WILL freeze things in the fridge, not freezer... well, of course the freezer too. Distilled water, turn the puppy up to 9... Hmmm Now I need a camera and light. NO! I'm not putting my Canon Rebel T3 in the freezer although I DO have a cheap GE camera that will also take videos... Hmmm.

 

See post above. Probably won't but I could...

 

Dougie - that's creepy

 

It's terrific you actually got to see a natural one, Jay - and even better, captured a photo of it to share!

Glad you found the explanation plus could share the video with them growing in slow motion, Doug - science, in all it's forms, fascinate me too!

Keep looking at your lovely crystal clear reverse icicle, Jay - yup, sheer magic!!

 

The explanation in both links is correct though the more scientific explanation in the link Dougie found in post 7 is the best. In simple terms though as water turns to ice it expands, that is why a frozen pipe will be burst once the pipe thaws.

In ancient times in parts of the world that have freezing conditions during winter, it was a quarrying trick. Drill a hole in the rock and fill it with water, plug the hole and wait for it to freeze, once the weather warms up the rock has split.
Archaeologists have found proof of this in some area's of the world. They must have had more patience in them days eh?
Anyway, even before I saw the explanations in those links, I knew the ice spike was caused by that expansion, just didn't exactly know how till I read them.

Thanks to both for finding them, it has added another slightly useless bit more knowledge to my internal hard drive, known as my brain and memory.

Nev.