All Hokie, All the Time. Period. Presented by First Bank & Trust Company

Late 80s Hokie Late 80s Hokie OP
Feb 10, 2026 at 10:35 AM ET
Interesting accidental science experiment here yesterday. Setup: If it's
not summer, then our garage can often be used to store drinks, as it's cold enough out there with the poorly insulated door, while still usually staying above freezing. Like the rest of the country, it's been very cold. 3 days ago, I brought in a can of Pepsi 0, and it was partly frozen. Yesterday, I brought in a bottle of Mt Dew Zero and I looked closely at the bottle before opening it. Not frozen at all. I put a bunch of ice in my glass, opened the bottle and started to pour it into the glass. Instant slushie. I don't remember enough physics / fluid dynamics / thermodynamics / whatever, but I think I remember that something that's pressurized will have a different freezing point. Having it just become a slushie when I poured it was fun. It might be too warm today for a repeat.

6 Replies

Freddyburg Hokie Freddyburg Hokie
5mo
The pressure kept the fluid from freezing....
Ice expands when freezing, so the pressure prevented the expansion, and thus the freezing. Once the pressure was released, ice crystals were able to form. Physics is phun.
Spudnut Spudnut
5mo
Water molecules need to expand slightly to form crystals
Soda bubbles prevent that from happening. Once pressure is released, the ice can form.
Burruss Writer Burruss Writer
5mo
Mmmmmm....Beer slushies...
C
calihokie
5mo
PV=NRT
Vtskier1 Vtskier1
5mo
Had a Coke Zero can blow it's top completely off earlier this cold snap.
Frozen stuff went all over the inside of my garage fridge.
E
EDGEMAN
5mo
I've had beers that were placed in cold storage that became instant...
...slushies once the top was popped. Awesome!