What is a simple definition of freezing point depression?
Alcohol added to water reduces the freezing point of the water. A freezing point depression is when another chemical is added to one to reduce (depress) its freezing point. Antifreeze (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antifreeze) does exactly that to keep the cooling fluid (mostly water) circulating at below 32 degree F. According to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freezing_po… “Freezing-point depression describes the phenomenon that the freezing point of a liquid (a solvent) is depressed when another compound is added, meaning that a solution has a lower freezing point than a pure solvent. This happens whenever a solute is added to a pure solvent, such as water.
