News Physics

Supercooled liquid water hits record low

Ultrafast laser records droplet temperature at –46° Celsius

HIT AND RUN  By zapping supercooled droplets with X-rays, physicists probed liquid water about 46 degrees Celsius below its freezing point, as seen in an illustration.

 

Gregory Stewart, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

By Andrew Grant

- More than 2 years ago

Using a miniature water gun and a powerful laser, researchers have probed tiny water droplets at –46° Celsius, the lowest temperature that ordinary water has ever been detected in the liquid phase.