freezing water in space

In article 80d64180-bb17-4eb8-a5d5-f1428de554b0

@t9g2000vbs.googlegroups.com, says...



A friend of mine who's a physicist says water in a container (a tank

or bladder) takes a long time to freeze in space because convection

and conduction of heat can't occur in a vacuum. But surely water in a

tank or bladder will eventually freeze in space if shaded from the

sun, right?



Can anyone tell me how long it would take? The water is distilled, so

no worries about impurities. I'm interested in how long it would take

for large amounts to freeze, like 1,000 tonnes or more. Does the

amount of water affect how long it takes to freeze?



This is a chemistry and thermodynamics question. If you dig a bit, I'm

sure you can find the relevant equations.



Note that the time it takes will depend on a lot of things, like how

much water is in the container (i.e. its mass), the initial starting

temperature of the water, what the container is made of, how thick the

container is, the surface area of the container, and etc.



Jeff

--

" Solids are a branch of fireworks, not rocketry. :-) :-) ", Henry

Spencer 1/28/2011