Why is dry ice so hot compared to normal ice?

Answer 1

Dry ice is colder than regular ice because it is not the same thing.

Regular ice is water, H2O, which freezes at a temperature of 32˚F or 0˚C. Therefore, ice is 32˚F.

Dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide's natural state is a gas; therefore it must be cooled down to about -109.3˚F before it freezes and becomes a solid. If it gets above this temperature it will return to its gaseous form, so dry ice is -109.3˚F.

* This is why it is called dry ice - there is no water in it.

Answer 2

I imagine that you're question is actually "Why is dry ice colder than water ice?" If that is in fact the case the answer is because of the chemical composition of the two different constiuent compounds. Dry ice is carbon dioxide CO2 in solid form, while water ice is H2O in solid form. We all know that H2O freezes at OoC, while the freezing point of CO2 is around -79oC at STP. The reason that CO2 freezes at such a cold temperature is because of it's relatively small molecular weight 44.0 g/mol in combination with the linear configuration of the double bonded oxygens on either side of the central carbon which results in very low, if any, intermolecular forces.

Answer 3

Dry ice isn't really hot, it just goes through a process known as sublimation. Think about water. If you hold an ice cube in your hand, what happens? It melts. Dry ice turns from a solid directly into a vapor, because it's not water ice; it's carbon dioxide ice. This process of sublimation requires more heat than simply melting. Heat (not cold) travels from your hand to the ice, making it warmer, but your hand colder. Temperatures aren't absolute; they're measured by comparison. That's why if you're outside on a cold day, eventually, you won't notice the cold because you've acclimated to the temperature. It's the same thing when you hold an ice cube.

Answer 4

Dry ice does not melt in to a puddle like water ice does. This is because dry ice is made of nothing more than CO2. CO2 cannot exist in liquid form under earth's atmosphere. For this reason, when dry ice heats up, it sublimates in to CO2 gas.

Answer 5

Dry ice is actually colder than regular ice, because it is solid carbon dioxide with a temperature of around -78.5°C (-109.3°F). The "dry" in its name refers to the fact that it sublimates directly from a solid to a gas, without going through a liquid phase, unlike water ice.

Answer 6

Because the boiling point of nitrogen is very low (77 K, if I remember properly; that's almost 200 degrees Celsius below zero). If it wasn't cold, it wouldn't be a liquid.