Layby needed … a time to relax – how about ice-cream? … after
all that history, granite outcrops, delicious food … I thought for Thanksgiving
we might take a wee break and make some ice-cream – Neapolitan flavoured:
strawberry, vanilla and chocolate ...
 |
| A block of Neapolitan Ice-cream |
… taking me back to one of my early childhood treats … and
then I remembered something I’d read a few years ago, which would tie nicely in
with granite ice-cream.
Geology brought out the comparison of granites being like
ice-cream … while in 1963 a young Tanzanian boy, Erasto Mpemba, had noticed
that if he put hot ice-cream mix into the freezer, it froze more quickly than
the cooled ice-cream mix of his fellow-class mates.
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| Tanzania shown within Africa |
They and his teacher laughed … much as I expect you’re doing
now – thinking what on earth is she on about – Granite Ice Cream and the Mpemba
Effect …
Erasto Mpemba’s ice-cream story fascinated me … he was a young
lad in Tanzania who, in 1963, wondered why his hot ice-cream mix froze more
quickly than the cooled ice-cream mix of his fellow classmates.
When a Physics lecturer, Denis Osborne, was visiting, Mpemba
did the experiment again … and asked the Professor – why?
The phenomenon had been observed by some of the world’s finest
minds, and has been used in everyday life for centuries …
In the 4th century BC – by Aristotle …
Roger Bacon in the 13th century …
Rene Descartes also tried to solve the problem in 1637 …
 |
| Erasto Mpemba and Denis Osborne (2013) |
Erasto Mpemba and Denis Osborne, in 1969, catapulted the question once
again back into the public eye …
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| The ingredients of granites can be 'likened' to flavourings ... |
Surprisingly an analogy can be made about ice-cream and
granite … they both start out as liquids which when cooled become solid, and
both will melt again if the temperature gets hot enough …
Ice-cream freezes at temperatures below 0 deg C (32 deg F), while granite
freezes at temperatures, somewhat colder, ~650 deg C (1200 deg F).
Just to ensure you I’m not speaking through my hat … or that I
didn’t lose my marbles when in Dartmoor … the links are below.
 |
| (not one of mine!) |
Happy Thanksgiving to you all … this is the first of the layby posts, and I’ll be doing some diversions – while I post about the Emily Hobhouse
trail with Jenny around the West Country that we have undertaken …
Have a wonderful family time to all of you who are celebrating
Thanksgiving … the tradition seems to be spreading, as some families embrace
this idea with their friends and family, much as those of you do in the
States …
“The History of The Mpemba Effect” – his story, and there are
other links available …
“A Way Cold Analogy” – Texas University notes on Granite
Ice-creams
Here’s another article “An Ice-Cream of a Different Flavour”
from a geo-cache …
Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters Inspirational Stories
31 comments:
That's really interesting Hilary! You are a well of information thank you.....
Very cool! (get it, cool, ice cream, teehee)
That's really fascinating!
Though I wouldn't like to be around when any granite melts, rather hotfoot it out of there sharpish :-)
Sounds good, a nice selection of flavor. I may have to get some today.
I did know the thing about hot liquids cooling faster than cold ones - but I still don't get it!
@ Ana - these things 'amuse' me ... so just sometimes they get posted! and looks like your curiosity was 'amused' too ..
@ Holly - yes very very cool ...
@ Nila - cool you like the subject! No - but I'm not sure where we could go ... once the granite started melting!
@ Steve - I used to love Neapolitan ice-cream ... now on occasions I'll have one scoop of my choice at the time!
@ Patsy - I'm certain the teacher as he became, Erasto Mpemba, could answer that for you ... I just decided my brain couldn't go further!
Thanks - I thought this would give us a change of tempo .. cheers and hope everyone's having a Happy Thanksgiving - Hilary
Just dropping in to wish you and yours a happy day today. I'm thankful that writing has brought me the opportunity to get to know you. Be well.
Despite it being cold here that ice cream has left me with a strong desire to eat some and sadly there is none in the house!!! Have a good day Diane
We put rock salt in home made ice cream; but I don't think that is the same thing here. I love strawberry ice cream.
Thanks for the interesting post. Have a great weekend Hilary.
You have such an interesting blog. Thanks for sharing. I'm a self-help blog author and reading blogs is my hobby and I randomly found your blog. I enjoyed reading your posts. All the best for your future blogging endeavors. Please keep in touch with me in Twitter, @selfhelpnemonik
@ JL - thank you for your wishes - I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving ... we don't celebrate over here - Christmas is our main time.
@ Diane - yes I know I read about ice-cream and think that would be nice ... but have none, but I'll miss out on the gritty stuff!
@ Donna - no I don't think that is quite the same as granite ice-cream .. but hadn't thought of rock salt. Strawberry ice-cream is very good ... glad you enjoyed the post.
@ Sridhar - thank you ... and you have good luck with your blog and your endeavours.
Thanks everyone - now to enjoy Black Friday - for you all in peace and quiet I hope ... cheers Hilary
Well, I certainly didn't know any of that!
Love,
Janie
You've got me hungry for a chunk of Neapolitan ice-cream :)
Like someone else said, you're a wealth of information, Hilary, and I *always* learn something when I stop by:)
Happy weekend:)
What a fabulous story about the Mpemba effect! I did not know that... Which is something I find myself saying every time I visit your blog, Hilary... You're a fantastic source of knowledge for the curious mind, and the scope of the things I learn here is amazing. Thank you for your thoughtfulness, for your inquisitiveness, and for sharing it all for the benefit of your readers :)
Guilie @ Quiet Laughter
I guess appropriately for the UK it would be happy Harvest Festival. I seem to remember the churches celebrated that at this time of year.
How interesting about the Mpemba effect and granite too Hilary. You certainly have an enquiring mind.
Very interesting Hilary. I shall study this. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving.
Hi human, Hilary,
Ah, Neapolitan ice cream reminds me of some ridiculous pawst my human did in response to that um, Alphabark, sorry, A to Z Challenge.
Your way of linking ice cream to Africa certainly shows your writing talents, my intellectual human friend.
I think ice cream would go well with a Bakewell Tart, but that's another story.
Thank you for this comprehensive pawst that I understood but my human Gary would probably just get confused by.
A good weekend to you.
Pawsitive wishes and doggy kisses,
Penny xx
Actually, the natural convection theory sort of makes sense. The hotter the fluid when it goes into the freezer, the higher the rate of heat transfer, at least initially. Cold fluid at the top of the container gets denser and drops to the bottom displacing warmer fluid, setting up natural circulation flow.
Cool! (pun intended)
@ Janie - nor did I til I found out!!
@ Mark - Neapolitan ice-cream is always good isn't it. I just enjoy writing up different things and if possible linking other bits in .. but thanks so much ...
@ Guilie - I'm so glad I remembered Mpemba - he amused me when I heard his story. I'm just delighted to 'entertain' ... and bring some interesting snippets of life to the blog. Thanks so much .. and I enjoy the sharing ...
@ Jo - Harvest Festival is at the end of September ... so we're way too late for that - and it's usually pretty cold by now and the produce would be wilted, rotted or frozen off. Thanks ...
@ Beste - that's good .. the reads are quite interesting ...
@ Penny - good to see you here ... and Gary did do something on Neapolitan ice-cream .. possibly the less said the better?
Thanks re my writing abilities ... I just enjoy writing about interesting odds and ends and if I can link in ideas - then I do ... as you well know.
We had cream with our Bakewell Tart, when we were in Bakewell last year ... but we both enjoy Cornish cream, when in Devon!
Penny you're an intelligent wonder and Gary is so lucky to have you around to explain granite and ice-cream to him and then remind him where Tanzania is in Africa - thanks for that ...
@ Mike - thanks so much for the technical confirmation ... it's a relief to see you here!
Delighted my cool post ... is 'cool'!!
Cheers to you all .. so pleased to read this is amusing you - Hilary
I didn't know about the hot liquids cooling quicker. Proves we learn something new everyday! Bit cold here for ice-cream today through I have recently discovered salted caramel ice-cream . . . yum!
I suddenly need a scoop of ice cream. Oh the power of suggestion - I like mint chocolate chip the best. Good post and I look forward to more
Very interesting post! I had heard that hot liquids cool faster than cold ones, but I never knew it related to ice cream. Now I want to get some Neapolitan ice cream. That looks good!
This was wonderful, Hil. I have to share this in homeschool. It's fabulous. Especially the analogy about ice cream and granite starting out as liquids. Thank you, sweet friend.
Hot ice cream freezes faster than cold ice cream?! I might have to go wake up my physics-trained husband for an explanation!
@ Suzanne - we're told not to put hot liquids in the fridge (wait til they've cooled off) - but I loved this story. Yes it's got colder ... the salted caramel variety - sounds rather good!
@ Joanne - power of suggestion indeed .. lots of chips in granite too! Chocolate mint is a good flavour ...
@ Sherry - I guess it's the same principle but with ice-cream .. just not something we should try at home too often. I know we don't find blocks of Neapolitan ice-cream ... but they were/are a good combination of flavours.
@ Robyn - good to see you back. Thought you might enjoy this one for Home School ... it's fun learning these things and relating them to our lives - am sure the kids will be fascinated!
@ Dianne - I know it's one of those curious thoughts ... I hope your hubby will agree with Mike's explanation above ... I'm sure they will concur in thought! Whether your hubby will be pleased to be woken up to discuss how ice-cream freezes is another matter?!
Thanks to you all for your fun comments .. cheers Hilary
Such a "cool" lesson on so many levels. :)
~Jess
Hi Jess - to me! they were fun snippets - I'm just delighted so many of you think they're cool too! Cheers Hilary
You had me at Ice Cream.
I never realized before how cool different rocks could be.
You may say, I always took them for "granite".
Hi Jeffrey - glad I hooked you in! Getting this article via our Geology 'tutor' was fun to read ... and I knew about the different coloured granites from spending so much time in the West Country - usually Cornwall ... so I had to write about 'ice-cream'. Cheers Hilary
Neopolitan ice cream is my favorite!
Hi Lynn - mine too as long as it's not Granite Neapolitan! Cheers Hilary
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