# Hot Ice with supersaturated Sodium Acetate - Can I use food dye? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 6, 2012, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-ice-with-supersaturated-sodium-acetate-can-i-use-food-dye/636909 "2012-10-06T15:41:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2012, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-ice-with-supersaturated-sodium-acetate-can-i-use-food-dye/636909/1 "2012-10-06T15:41:44Z")
It looks like our big thrill this weekend will be making ['hot ice’](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxuhwAf9M_o)with sodium acetate. My daughter, of course, wants to make it colorful. So, will using food dye in the mix mess up the chemistry? ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2012, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-ice-with-supersaturated-sodium-acetate-can-i-use-food-dye/636909/2 "2012-10-06T15:46:11Z")
It won’t work as well as you’d like. The sodium acetate will crystallize out fairly pure, so it won’t pick up much color. It will probably pick up some though. I think it is a wonderful experiment to try and learn anyway. You could try different colorants or conditions to see how the crystals are effected. That is what science is after all. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2012, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-ice-with-supersaturated-sodium-acetate-can-i-use-food-dye/636909/3 "2012-10-06T16:17:12Z")
Thanks, we’ll give it a try.