Cold, white solid substance formed when carbon dioxide (or CO2) is compressed and cooled – dry ice changes into CO2 gas at room temperatures.
Dry ice is the solid form of carbon dioxide. It is commonly used for temporary refrigeration as CO2 does not have a liquid state at normal atmospheric pressure and sublimes directly from the solid state to the gas state. It is used primarily as a cooling agent, but is also used in fog machines at theatres for dramatic effects. Its advantages include lower temperature than that of water ice and not leaving any residue (other than incidental frost from moisture in the atmosphere). It is useful for preserving frozen foods (such as ice cream) where mechanical cooling is unavailable.
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Dry ice sublimes at 194.7 K (−78.5 °C; −109.2 °F) at Earth atmospheric pressure. This extreme cold makes the solid dangerous to handle without protection from frostbite injury. While generally not very toxic, the outgassing from it can cause hypercapnia (abnormally elevated carbon dioxide levels in the blood) due to a buildup in confined locations.
English
Etymology
A genericised trademark of the DryIce Corporation of America.
Pronunciation
Noun
dry ice (uncountable)
- Carbon dioxide frozen in the solid state, used especially as a cooling agent and for the production of fog-like special effects. It sublimes at −78.5 °C (−109.3 °F) at normal atmospheric pressure.
Synonyms
- cardice
Translations
Further reading
- dry ice on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Anagrams
- cidery, erycid
