As predicted, the weather is getting colder. If you find out there is a chance of snow the next day, you might put some antifreeze in your engine so it won’t freeze. But how does antifreeze work?
The type of anti-freeze mentioned is automotive (having to do with vehicles). Other types are water-based antifreezes that can be used for food. There are also biological antifreezes. Antifreeze proteins can be produced by plants and animals to prevent ice from forming. Organisms that can produce antifreeze proteins are able to survive in extremely cold places.
Automotive antifreeze is used in your engine’s cooling system (aka engine coolant). It causes the water in your engine to have a lower freezing point. This means the temperature must be colder for the water to become ice. And, it also raises the boiling point of the water. This means that the temperature must be warmer for the water to evaporate. This is helpful because it makes it harder for the water inside the engine to freeze or boil. Antifreeze is made of either ethylene glycol or propylene glycol.
Glycol is made up of two hydroxyl (-OH) groups, which are attached to carbon atoms. Propylene glycol is sometimes called 1, 2-propanediol. It isn’t toxic, so it can be used in making food, cosmetics and oral hygiene products. The chemical formula of ethylene glycol is (CH2OH)2.
When antifreeze is put in, it goes through the engine and absorbs heat, goes to the heater core (the place where warm air is blown through the inside of the car when you turn the heater on), then to the radiator (heat is blown outside of the car) and then it starts the cycle again.
The way road salt works is that it breaks apart the attractions between the water molecules when they have frozen (water expands and crystallizes when it freezes). But, if we use salt to limit the extent of how much water freezes, the salt could damage the engine. Therefore, antifreeze must be a liquid. Antifreeze prevents the crystals — that form when water freezes — from forming.
Antifreeze also needs to be maintained but it is useful if one lives in a place where it gets cold often.
Researchers found that nature has its own anti-freeze molecules. In-depth studies are in progress to understand this by creating artificial protein molecules and monitoring those using X-ray analysis and video microscopy.
Research is also in progress from the perspective of sustainability and keeping it environment-friendly. Production of biodiesel can produce glycerin as a by-product, hence making it eco-friendly, but a lot needs to be done in terms of purifying this and making it cost-effective.
Vaageesha Das is a 10th grader at Morgantown High School. Today’s information comes from: “Antifreeze.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 8 Dec. 2019, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Antifreeze; “What Is Antifreeze?” Halfords Advice Centre, https://www.halfords.com/advice/motoring/expert-advice/what-is-antifreeze#; The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Antifreeze.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 27 May 2013, https://www.britannica.com/science/antifreeze-chemical-substance; “Chlorine Chemistry.” Antifreeze and the Freezing Point of Water, https://chlorine.americanchemistry.com/Antifreeze-and-the-Freezing-Point-of-Water/; Subaru, Stanley. “Stanley Subaru.” What Does Antifreeze Do? What Is Antifreeze? How Does Antifreeze Work? | Stanley Subaru, https://www.stanleysubaru.com/blog/2015/august/13/what-does-antifreeze-do-what-is-antifreeze-how-does-antifreeze-work.htm; The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Glycol.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 16 Aug. 2019, https://www.britannica.com/science/glycol;http://coolantexperts.com/coolant_overview/the_future_of_coolant
