Water freezes at 0°C, yes, but only in ideal, perfectly still conditions. Add a little salt, a dash of dirt, or even a slight breeze, and the freezing point shifts like a procrastinator’s deadline. That’s why your car’s windshield might be clear while the neighbor’s is a sheet of ice. It’s all about nucleation—the microscopic particles that give water a place to start freezing.
Here’s a fun little fact: pure water can actually be cooled to -40°C without freezing. This is called supercooling, and it’s the rebel of the temperature world. Once you disturb it—say, by shaking a bottle—it instantly turns to slush. So 0°C isn’t a hard stop; it’s more of a polite suggestion that water sometimes ignores.
