Ice Brain Freeze

This is never going to work.

It would take days to freeze this much ice cream.

All set for our world-record attempt, Ms Hucklebuck?

Well, almost. There is one slight concern with the...

Excellent. Soon, my masterpiece will be complete -

the world's biggest ice cream cone.

HE CACKLES

This won't end well.

BELL RINGS

We're live in five, four, three...

ANNOUNCER: This is...

With...

..the floor manager.

Stand by!

Come on, everybody!

-BOTH:

-It's time for...

Today, we're asking, can ice cubes sink in water?

At a microscopic level, invisible to our eyes,

water consists of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom

bonded together to form a molecule.

Water can exist in three different states -

liquid, gas and solid.

As a liquid, the molecules are close together,

but free to flow around each other.

As a gas, the molecules are far apart and can move in

all different directions.

But when water hits its freezing point at zero degrees Celsius,

the molecules take on a solid form known as ice.

Speaking of ice,

I wonder how my super-cone is doing.

HE HUMS A TUNE

-SHE SIGHS

-See you after the break.

And we're clear.

This is it, McCork,

the moment we've all been waiting for.

Let the pour begin.

But it's not frozen.

He said, "Let the pour begin."

OK. You asked for it.

ELECTRONICS SPARK

Uh-oh!

ALARM BLARES

No, this is all wrong!

Stop the machine! Stop the machine!

I can't. It's broken!

I told you this was a bad idea.

Run for your life!

BELL RINGS

Positions, everyone.

If you can find them.

So tell us, Dr Knowles, can ice cubes sink in water?

First, let me ask YOU a question.

If we took two identical jars and filled one with popcorn

and the other with marbles, which one would be lighter?

The popcorn one, obviously.

Correct. Even though both jars are equal in volume -

that is the popcorn and marbles take up the same amount of space -

the first jar weighs less because

the popcorn is less dense than the marbles.

Less dense?

Well, what has all that got to do with ice?

The molecules in ice are arranged

in a rigid framework that allow the water molecules

to be more spread out, a bit like the popcorn in the first jar.

Whereas the molecules in a liquid are more tightly packed together,

more like the marbles.

And if an object is less dense than the fluid it's in, it will float.

If it's more dense, it will sink.

So ice always floats in water because it's less dense?

Exactly. Now you've got it.

Ha! Maybe I'm not that dense after all, Doctor.

ELECTRONICS SPARK

Oh! I think we better get out of here, Professor.

See you next time, folks. I hope!

-COLIN:

-And we're clear.

So, then, Mr Artiste, what have you got to say for yourself?

Can't talk, slurping.

HE SLURPS

News just in, everyone,

looks like we've got the world record...

What?

..for world's biggest milkshake.

Heh! Another one in the bag. HE SLURPS

-Oh, come on. This is ridiculous.

-Mm.

Even by our standards.

Colin, sometimes you just have to trust in the artistic process.

Just suck it up.

HE SLURPS

THEY SIGH

Brain freeze.