• Question: what is it called when ice turn to gas

    Asked by arora to Lauren, Marisol, Michael, Sarah, Sophie on 16 Nov 2016.
    • Photo: Marisol Collins

      Marisol Collins answered on 16 Nov 2016:


      Ice turning straight in to gas is called Sublimation – this is the name given to when a solid becomes a gas without first becoming a liquid.

      Frozen water as ice will sublimate when it is below its freezing point, but quite slowly and it is difficult to see it happening. One place where sublimation happens a lot is on the top of high mountains, for example Everest, where the low air pressure, low temperature, strong winds and strong sunlight with make snow sublimate!

      Marisol 🙂

    • Photo: Lauren Burt

      Lauren Burt answered on 16 Nov 2016:


      Good question! I didn’t know the answer so I have learnt something new!!!

      Lauren ☺

    • Photo: Michael Rivera

      Michael Rivera answered on 17 Nov 2016:


      Sublimation is actually a process that archaeologists use sometimes – especially when we study shipwrecks! Old ships are obviously made of wood mostly, and are found very wet from being in the ocean. We freeze the wood and then transform the frozen ice inside to the gas state without going through the liquid state. This is a great way to get rid of all the water that soaked the wood before, WITHOUT damaging the wood.

      Imagine tearing into the wood to chip away all the ice with a tiny knife? You would likely destroy all the wooden planks. 🙁

      Science has so many uses in many fields – and archaeology is no exception!

      Michael 🙂

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