What is polycrystalline water?

Episode 2 of my series on water ice! Admittedly this is probably the least interesting because it's some negative results, but it's not very scientific to only discuss successes right? In this video, I use a lens to melt ice from the inside out, exposing it's polycrystalline structure (and explain how it's different from a single crystal). With this partially-melted ice, I can do a bit of materials forensics, and actually figure out how it formed, hopefully so I can improve the process in the future!

Next video will be on vapor growth, and I'll say right now that it DOES work to grow centimeters-big faceted single crystals! Subscribe to make sure you see it!

CORRECTIONS:
[none yet!]

Other videos in this series:

The Sound of Freezing, Explained!
The Sound of Freezing (Bonus Footage)
What is polycrystalline water?

Check out the other social media for updates and ramblings:

Interesting articles for the extra-curious:

J.M. Adams, W. Lewis, The Production of Large Single Crystals of Ice, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 5 (1934) 400–402. doi:10.1063/1.1751759.
T. Shichiri, Faceted ice crystals grown in water without air, J. Cryst. Growth. 187 (1998) 133–137. doi:10.1016/S0022-0248(97)00839-7.
P. Bisson, H. Groenzin, I.L. Barnett, M.J. Shultz, High yield, single crystal ice via the Bridgman method, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 87 (2016) 034103. doi:10.1063/1.4944481.
A. Cahoon, M. Maruyama, J.S. Wettlaufer, Growth-Melt Asymmetry in Crystals and Twelve-Sided Snowflakes, Phys. Rev. Lett. 96 (2006) 255502. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.255502.
T. Gonda, The Growth of Small Ice Crystals in Gases of High and Low Pressures, C, J. Meteorol. Soc. Japan. Ser. II. 55 (1977) 142–146. doi:10.2151/jmsj1965.55.1_142.
Y. Furukawa, S. Kohata, Temperature dependence of the growth form of negative crystal in an ice single crystal and evaporation kinetics for its surfaces, J. Cryst. Growth. 129 (1993) 571–581. doi:10.1016/0022-0248(93)90493-G.
N.N. Khusnatdinov, V.F. Petrenko, Fast-growth technique for ice single crystals, J. Cryst. Growth. 163 (1996) 420–425. doi:10.1016/0022-0248(95)00980-9.
D. v. d. S. Roos, Rapid Production of Single Crystals of Ice, J. Glaciol. 14 (1975) 325–328. doi:10.3189/s0022143000021808.

#Materials #Physics #Crystals

Music and images in this video:

[leovalenzuela]

"showing only the successes and not the failures isnt very scientific" subscribed on the spot.

[xarin]

The failures really are important and interesting too. I wish more channels showed them.

[fastedeverything]

"this is ice"
The crow in the background: "thanks captain obvious!"

[pyromen]

Awesome video! Seeing the actual grain boundaries in ice was really cool! I’m excited to see your vapor deposition process!

[themightyripples]

You're quickly becoming my favourite YT scientist. Thank you for your work.

[Trooopetre]

Watching this video my brain was screaming about using vapor deposition.
Living somewhere it is currently negative 25C, I have massive crystals like that growing on every vent of the house.

[kleinesfilmroellchen]

A long time ago I made a presentation about crystalline symmetry and taxonomy. And even though I forgot everything, I still jump out in joy every time I read something like the P6cm or m3m (I hope that's a thing).

[SimulatingPhysics]

Hi! I came from the Physics subreddit. I really liked your demonstrations.
What is the size of the grains showed at 4:48? I mean, how much zoom is the photo?

[IanGrams]

I've always wanted to learn more about material science, thank you for sharing your knowledge of it! I've been hooked ever since that amazing bubble demo.

Also thank you for sharing the things that didn't work. Totally agree that's an important part of science.

[Justus_Patrick]

i just saw your "plan a" quote. That's so inspirational because its so true. Don't quit after your first failure, your first plan is supposed to fail.

[Jeremyak]

I really appreciate this channel, it seems somehow more genuine than a lot of the over-produced "I heckin love science" content out there.

[peteoconnor]

Came over from Steve Moulds channel and I'm so glad I did!

[ГеоргиГеоргиев-сг]

"that's a loud bird", no it's either a crow or a raven, the humble loudbird died when we stopped naming animals by description.

[SpiritOfHugs]

If the subjects weren't incredibly interesting, I probably would still watch your videos just because of your energy. It's so fun listening to people that are truly passionate about something. You're cool.

[hasanhasn]

As a material science graduate thank you for simplifying polycrystalline and single crystal in a way normal people can understand.

[MalcolmCooks]

dude why am I only just finding your channel, these videos are really interesting, informative, and the production value and editing is off the charts

[sophiegrey]

"This is ice" finally, something I can understand

[heinzehrhart]

I saw your gerrymandering video first and thought okay that's kind of cool and now I'm bringing this channel. There are so many videos alone about f... Ice but every video still gives new info.

[fizzyplazmuh]

Ooh! I have used a modified Bridgman technique to grow large naphtha crystals before. My family HATES mothballs now.🤮 I like to play with scintillators and particle detectors. Your explanations are so clear that you are filling a few of my gaps in crystalline ordering and thermal transfer and I am sure other things by the time I make it through all your videos. I once sat in prison for 15 years so I ordered and consumed books like "Geochemical Kinetics" and Pauling's "General Chemistry". They opened my eyes and mind more than highschool ever did. I get tingles up my spine when I get an idea that lets me apply this type of knowledge. I am an applied science junkie.

[thefipster]

Youtube is weird. My first thought was: Cool a new science channel that is actually interesting... let's check the videos.... wait this channel is already seven years old.... why did youtube hide this from me for all these years... at least now I can binge watch everything. Very informative channel with clear explanations, thank you sir, I will stick around!