# What temperature is "ice cold" ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 2, 2009, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-temperature-is-ice-cold/491779 "2009-04-02T23:07:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2009, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-temperature-is-ice-cold/491779/41 "2009-04-05T01:37:38Z")
> [@SeanArenas](#): > > OK then Ice Cold Coke could mean -460 to +33. That’s still a huge range of numbers. And +59F doesn’t seem to be part of them. No, because the coke will be frozen 99.9% of the temperatures in that range. > [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Ever heard of [supercooling](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercooling)? Under the right circumstances, water (at standard pressure) can remain liquid down to -42 °C. Yes, I have. But that, similar to the phenomenon of getting water above boiling in a microwave and pouring cocoa in, requires the lack of nucleation points. When we open a soda and it instantly freezes, it’s not directly because we’re changing the pressure, it’s because we’re allowing the CO[sub]2[/sub] to come out of solution, introducing said nucleation points for the ice crystals to start forming on. > [@Sunspace](#): > > And if you do change the pressure, you can get ice at 1000K. Here’s an article [describing the phase diagram of water](http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/water/phase.html). Ice X appears to be stable at temperatures of 1000K (1340F, 726.6C) at a pressure approaching 100 gigapascals (14.5 million PSI). So you can have your “ice-cold” coke at a nice cherry-red temperature, as long as it’s in a suitably-pressurized can. > > Just be careful opening it. Well, of course. But practically, nobody’s going to be drinking soda much above 15psia. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2009, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-temperature-is-ice-cold/491779/42 "2009-04-05T04:10:31Z")
Sure, you can have some phase or other of ice at 1000K, but that’s not ice-cold, that’s ice-pressed. If I ask what the freezing point of water is, implicit in my question is that all other parameters other than temperature are at their standard values. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2009, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-temperature-is-ice-cold/491779/43 "2009-04-05T05:18:24Z")
Every freezer I’ve ever had that was worth a damn operated a few degrees either side of 0°F. That, to me, is “ice cold.” However, beverages (vodka excepted) are not palatable chilled to 0°F. So I would define “ice cold” for a beverage as the temperature of said beverage when iced, or chilled, to taste. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2009, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-temperature-is-ice-cold/491779/44 "2009-04-05T08:26:35Z")
You know something is as cold as ice if it’s willing to sacrifice your love. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2009, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-temperature-is-ice-cold/491779/45 "2009-04-05T13:14:59Z")
Bravo Sam. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-temperature-is-ice-cold/491779.md?page=2)