I just bought four 2 liter bottles from the grocery, they are sitting in my car. Ambient outside temps are about 20F. On the drive from the supermarket back to work I turned the heat up full blast so the interior of the car would be warmer.
Will the bottles last 3 hours without freezing and bursting under these conditions? I assume so but want to check.
I’ve been screwing around with some online newton’s law of cooling calculators. I guess another factor is I don’t now the temp in the car. If outside is 20,inside the car should be warmer. But I don’t know how much or how long.
Assuming the diet coke is at 70 degrees and the temperature differential is 50 degrees. You are solving 32 = 20 + 50(e^(-kt)) for t. This gives us time ln(12/50) x -1/k = 1.427/k. Thing is since k is dependent on so many factors it is determined by experiment. Perhaps if we assume a cylinder of water with the radius and height of the 2L bottle we could get a close estimate but I don’t have that info.
Is the car parked in a garage? Or out in the open? Is the sun out or is it overcast? Is it windy or still?
All these things factor in, but I would guess that it will not freeze to the point of exploding the bottle in 3 hours in 20 degree outside temps.
When you normally enter your car after it has been sitting out in those conditions all day, does it feel as cold as the outside air?
I think them temp is often a few degrees warmer than the outside air and I think it would take longer than 3 hours even in a freezer.
I’ll be shocked if it freezes to the point of bursting.
If you are really worried about it, make sure all 4 bottles are huddled together like penguins in Antarctica. Also, Put a blanket over them (serious overkill, but that will delay freezing).
I’d be shocked if it freezes at all. 20 F means the car will retain a good chunk of its heat for a while.
No, your 2 litre will not freeze to the point of exploding. At MOST it could start to slush. How do I know this? I was wondering the same thing about my 2 ltr. of Diet Pepsi and the 2 cases of beer I’ve been driving around in my back seat for a couple of weeks. I park my car in my garage and in a high wind area at work. The temp in Grand Rapids MI this winter has routinely been in the sub-zero range with sustained wind chills of minus 30. The Pepsi didn’t freeze over a whole weekend and my the beer is still in the back seat waiting for a birthday bash on March 13. I did finally cover the beer with my shearling coat until then, though!
Your 2 liter bottles won’t burst. They may freeze at some point, but even at 20 degrees, I have my doubts.
I’ve frozen many a 2 liter bottle on purpose without them bursting.
Now CANS of diet drinks…thats a different story. I’ve popped many of them in cold temps.
Get them down sub zero, in a car that moves around a bit, for a few days and the CO2 moves from the ice and swells the bottle. A gentle touch by an edge on the car CAN make it burst. Sometimes slowly, sometimes with great noise :eek: (and mess) as you drive down the road.
I don’t suppose it matters that he said it was diet root beer rather than diet coke? (Or are you form that area where every soft drink is called a “coke”?)
Now I’m curious as to whether different soft drinks have significantly different freezing points or rates of cooling.
I froze a two liter of diet root beer in my car in January. It took less than 24 hours but I am not sure exactly how long. It did not explode and the bottle showed no sign of weakening that I could notice.
The Web seems to think that the freezing point of soda sweetened with sugar is about 30F. So a slight reduction in freezing temperature.
So what happened? Did they survive the car ride home intact?
I wasn’t sure how much the freezing point would vary for diet vs regular or root beer vs Cola. I guess not by much, the soda wasn’t even slushy after three hours.
regular sugared cola won’t freeze solid so readily. The sugar content will keep it slushy for lower temps. I’ve never had a sugared drink 'splode on me (though I suppose at some point it could. Diet drinks without all that sugar will more readily freeze. All the cans that I’ve everseen freeze to the exploding point have been diet drinks.