Hot vs. Cold - Investigating the Mpemba Effect Natasha Khimji York House School Floor Location: J87H

The purpose of this experiment is to verify the accuracy of the Mpemba Effect (which states that hot water can freeze faster than cold water) by performing an experiment to test the theory. In my experiment, I am measuring the average temperature (in degrees Celcius), weight (in grams), and the average amount of temperature dropped (in degrees Celcius) of hot water, cold water, hot water covered in saran wrap, and cold water covered in saran wrap.

This effect is named after a grade 10 high school student called Erasto B. Mpemba who discovered it when he was at a cooking class at school making ice cream. The students had to put the hot mixture in the freezer, and Mpemba was behind the rest of the class so when he put his ice cream in the freezer it was hotter than the rest of the students'. He was shocked when he took it out that his (hot) ice cream mixture had cooled faster than the other students' (cold) ones!

I found this experiment quite interesting because I had never heard of hot water freezing before cold - it did not seem probable! I was very curious to find out if this theory would actually work, so that is one of the main reasons why I chose to do this science project.

Will the hot or cold water freeze first? Well, you'll just have to wait and see.