Since ancient times, people drink alcohol in one form or another. We will not argue about the dangers of such drinks. Alcohol is really harmful to health, but most people believe that it can be consumed in small quantities.
Vodka - what is this product?
Vodka is a strong alcoholic drink consisting of water and ethyl alcohol. The fortress is regulated by GOST - it ranges from 40 to 56%. The most common and popular option is 40% vodka.
Russians most often use vodka as an independent alcoholic drink, and foreigners as the basis for cocktails. In addition, it is used for the production of tinctures and lotions, for compresses and rubbing. In fact, a universal product, and not only for drinkers.
From the history
Many people mistakenly believe that D.I. Mendeleev invented vodka. In fact, this product appeared much earlier, back in Persia. And Dmitry Ivanovich was a lot and densely involved in the properties of solutions, including alcohol. His doctoral dissertation was entitled “On the Connection of Alcohol with Water,” where he scientifically substantiated the ideal strength - 60 parts of pure water and forty parts of alcohol.
For the first time in our country, vodka appeared even under Dmitry Donskoy, but the innovation did not interest princes or ordinary people. They felt that our honey and bread wines are much tastier. In 1429, vodka was again brought to Russia, but already as a medicine. Since then, she has taken root in our lands.
Properties of Vodka
A water-alcohol solution, like any other, has different physical and chemical properties: there is a freezing point for vodka, the ability to react with certain substances, but many people are only interested in the effect of this drink on the human body.
It has long been noticed that alcohol in small doses (approximately 20-25 g of alcohol) relaxes, gives pleasant ease and ease of communication. However, with increasing dosages, such negative consequences as loss of coordination, decreased attention, lack of an adequate assessment of reality and one’s own behavior begin to rapidly increase.
The only beneficial quality of vodka from a medical point of view is its disinfecting properties, as well as the possibility of using lotions, compresses and cooling refreshing wipes as lotions.
Few people know that they tried to use vodka and alcohol as anesthesia (in the absence of other drugs), but this method had to be abandoned. Too thin line lies between loss of sensitivity and unconsciousness (as is necessary for the operation), as well as fatal outcome.
Does vodka freeze
A lot of people are interested in whether vodka can freeze in principle. The answer is simple - yes, like any other liquid mixture. For example, a saturated solution of sodium chloride crystallizes at -21 ° C, and
calcium chloride at -55 ° C. Pure ethanol freezes only at extremely low temperatures (-115 ° C), arctic fuel at -50 ° C.
So the question is not whether vodka freezes, but at what temperature this process occurs. Let us dwell on this in more detail.
Raoul's Law
At the end of the 18th century, the French scientist Francois Raoul studied the decrease in crystallization temperature and the decrease in vapor pressure (increase in boiling point) of solutions with a change in the concentration of introduced substances, and deduced several laws of behavior of ideal solutions.
Raoult’s second law states that lowering the boiling point and increasing the freezing temperature of a solution is directly proportional to its molar concentration.
The law is applicable to infinitely dilute solutions, and it is not affected by the nature of the introduced component.
Is this law suitable for a water-alcohol solution, and what will be the freezing temperature of vodka according to Raoul’s conclusions? All the laws of Francois Raoul apply to ideal solutions of non-volatile substances, and the alcohol evaporates very actively and creates an increased vapor pressure above the surface of the water-alcohol mixture. So it can be calculated with a small error: the freezing temperature of vodka 40% is -27 ° C.
It’s worth mentioning right away that talking about freezing at this temperature is incorrect for some reason. During crystallization, ice floes form, and the alcohol concentration in the remaining mixture increases, and, therefore, the freezing temperature of the liquid mixture changes. So from a scientific point of view, it’s correct to speak not about the freezing temperature, but about the point at which crystallization begins.
Temperature table
Partially by experiment, partly by formulas, a table was formed of the dependence of the freezing temperature on the amount of alcohol in vodka.
The alcohol content,% | Freezing temperature (beginning of crystallization process), ° |
2,5 | -1.0 |
6.8 | -3.0 |
11.3 | -5.0 |
17.5 | -8.7 |
22.1 | -12.2 |
24.2 | -14.0 |
29.9 | -18.9 |
33.8 | -23.6 |
40 | -27 |
46.3 | -33.9 |
56.1 | -41 |
The freezing temperature of vodka can vary not only from changes in the concentration of alcohol in the mixture, but also from the presence of other substances in the solution. Even classic vodka, which consists only of purified water and alcohol, contains a certain amount of fusel oils and other impurities. But there is also a drink with different flavors that affect its physical properties.
Does vodka freeze in a freezer
So, we determined that the temperature of crystallization onset of 40% of the water-alcohol mixture is -27 ° C, but only approximately. In general, we can say that freezing will begin when the mark on the thermometer approaches or crosses the border of -30 ° C.
In the freezer, the temperature, depending on the settings, can be from -5 to -24 ° C. However, this is still not enough to freeze 40% of alcohol.
Many people were faced with the fact that the vodka left in the frozen food compartment thickened and ice formed in it. So why did vodka freeze in the freezer?
There are several options here. Firstly, the product may be diluted, and instead of 40%, it will be no more than 35%. And with a decrease in concentration, the freezing temperature of vodka will decrease, and the power of the freezer will be enough for crystallization.
The second option is the real temperature in the freezer is much lower than the declared one. It is very simple to check with a conventional outdoor thermometer.
The third option is leakage of coolant, which is why areas with extremely low temperatures form in the refrigerator. Incidentally, this is a rather dangerous situation - freon evaporates, and the compressor in the refrigerator overheats, as a result of which the unit breaks down. In addition, freon negatively affects the environment and is one of the most dangerous substances that destroy the ozone layer.
Ice or jelly: what does frozen vodka look like
Freezing vodka is a complex process that is hard to imagine without a clear example. Frozen vodka may look different, depending on the concentration of pure ethanol, time, impurities, temperature fluctuations. However, at the initial stage, it does not crystallize, but thickens, sometimes even turning into jelly. To traditional alcoholic jelly, which is made from and strong drinks, it has nothing to do. However, in a similar way they make “heady ice cream”. It looks like fruit ice, and it is very nice to eat in the heat. However, only adults, since children should not drink alcohol.
After thickening with further cooling, vodka begins to crystallize - sometimes it solidifies with plates, sometimes separate islands of ice are formed in it. Turning it completely into a solid piece is problematic - this is due to the same increase in the concentration of ethanol in the remaining solution.
Can i drink frozen vodka
When vodka freezes, the question immediately arises as to whether it can be drunk. Theoretically, this is not prohibited, but there are several nuances.
Firstly, if vodka is frozen at a low temperature, and there is already a lot of ice in it, then most likely it is diluted and made not using technology. We do not recommend drinking this, although you can throw out the ice and drink the remaining liquid, in which there will already be more alcohol. Previously used this method of purifying vodka - freezing when excess water froze, and the remaining mixture became cleaner and better.
Secondly, frozen vodka must be drunk very carefully. Highly chilled, viscous, it practically does not smell and does not taste, and the cold dulls the receptors additionally. Therefore, you can drink it a lot, and then instantly and very drunk, which leads to severe toxic poisoning.
So if you are not an opponent of alcohol, then use it at least correctly, so that there are no unpleasant consequences.