# The incredible shrinking ice cubes

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-incredible-shrinking-ice-cubes/232535>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 4, 2004, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-incredible-shrinking-ice-cubes/232535 "2004-03-04T16:39:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-incredible-shrinking-ice-cubes/232535/1 "2004-03-04T16:39:45Z")

</div>

I fill the ice cube trays with water, place them in the freezer, and pretty much forget about them. A couple of months later, the ice cubes, which once were large enough to be joined to one another at the top, have now sunk down into their individual compartments. Some have almost completely disappeared. What’s up with this? Are they evaporating in sub-freezing temperatures? Or is this glacial drift at work?

Just wondering.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Lagged2Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ac8455/32.png) [@Lagged2Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lagged2Death)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-incredible-shrinking-ice-cubes/232535/2 "2004-03-04T16:54:06Z")

</div>

> [@Kizarvexius](#):
>
> Are they evaporating in sub-freezing temperatures?

Probably. That process is called [sublimation.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sublimation_(chemistry))

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-incredible-shrinking-ice-cubes/232535/3 "2004-03-04T16:55:28Z")

</div>

I read an article about that some time ago. It seems that modern “No Frost” refrigerators have heating elements to prevent ice forming on the inside. These heating elements are also responsible for making the ice cubes go to gaseous state from solid, withoug going to an intermediate liquid state (I don’t remember the word, I am sure it’s not “evaporate” though)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-incredible-shrinking-ice-cubes/232535/4 "2004-03-04T17:03:56Z")

</div>

I had this happen in an old refrigerator of mine, as nobody ever used the ice. It started shrinking and smelling really foul, and eventually something (I assume some sort of mold) started growing on it. By the time I moved out, all the ice was gone and there was nothing left but some yellowish-brown sludge at the bottom of the ice bucket thingy.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-incredible-shrinking-ice-cubes/232535/5 "2004-03-04T17:04:37Z")

</div>

> [@Lagged2Death](#):
>
> Probably. That process is called [sublimation.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sublimation_(chemistry))

Sublimation! That’s what I meant!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-incredible-shrinking-ice-cubes/232535/6 "2004-03-04T19:44:30Z")

</div>

Okay, so they essentially _are_ vaporizing, though the process is slightly different from standard evaporation.

So much for my glacial drift theory.

Thanks for the responses!