Perform this example and see how leaf structure affects its freezing.
Things Required:
Lettuce leaf
Celery leaf
Green onion
Paper towel
Directions:
Place the vegetables in a freezer on the paper towel. Check them every 2 minutes to determine which freezes first.
This Is What Happens:
The lettuce and celery leaves froze first and the onion took a much longer time to freeze.
Science Behind It:
There are several reasons for these results. One reason is that the vegetables with the largest surface area lose heat more quickly. When you consider that small garden plants except for onions, all have leaves with about the same surface area. Then other factors must be considered to explain their rate of freezing. See Experiment Hard to Freeze to discover how the amount of nutrients in the cell fluid affects the freezing rate of the plant.
