Ice cube facts for kids
Ice cubes are small pieces of ice. They are often shaped like cubes. People use ice cubes to cool down drinks. When a drink is served "on the rocks," it means it comes with ice cubes.
You can make ice cubes at home. Just fill a tray with water and put it in a freezer. Many modern freezers have a special icemaker. This machine makes ice cubes automatically and stores them in a bin, ready for you to use.
Ice cubes are also made and sold in large amounts by companies. These ice cubes are often shaped like cylinders and might even have holes in the middle. They look very clear because the water used to make them has very little air dissolved in it.
Sometimes, ice cubes are crushed into smaller flakes. Some people think crushed ice makes certain cocktails look nicer. Crushed ice also cools drinks or other liquids very quickly. This is because the speed of cooling depends on how much ice there is and the average size of the ice pieces.
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The First Artificial Ice Cubes
An American doctor named John Gorrie built a refrigerator in 1844. He wanted to cool the air in rooms. His machine made ice, which he would hang from the ceiling in a basin. Dr. Gorrie is known as the person who created ice cubes, even though he wasn't trying to cool drinks.
Instead, he used the ice to lower the temperature of a room. Back then, many people believed that bad air made people sick. So, to help sick people, Dr. Gorrie suggested draining swamps and cooling down sickrooms.
Ice Cube Trays: How They Work
An ice cube tray is a special container you fill with water. Then, you put it into a freezer. The water freezes into ice, making ice cubes. Many trays are flexible, which makes it easy to twist them and pop out the ice cubes.
Another type of tray is made of aluminum. It has a lever that you can pull to lift the ice cubes. This releases them from the tray. Most automatic ice-making freezers have a similar system, but it's run by a motor.
Even though they are called "ice cubes," ice trays can make ice in many shapes. Some trays make spherical or cylindrical ice, sometimes called ice tubes. You can also find fun, novelty trays that make ice in seasonal, festive, or other unique shapes.
The History of Ice Cube Trays
The first flexible, all-metal ice cube tray was made by Guy L. Tinkham in 1933. This tray would bend sideways to help remove the ice cubes.
The first rubber ice cube tray was invented by Lloyd Groff Copeman. One day in 1928, he was walking through the woods collecting sap for maple syrup. He noticed that slush and ice easily came off his rubber boots instead of sticking to them.
After talking about this idea with his patent attorney, Copeman started doing experiments using rubber cups. Later, he created and patented several different types of ice trays. These included a metal tray with rubber dividers, a metal tray with separate rubber cups, and a tray made entirely of rubber.
Images for kids
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Ice cubes can be stacked
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Hollow cylindrical ice "cubes" for cooling drinks
See also
In Spanish: Cubo de hielo para niños
