Why do farmers cover their plants with water before a freeze?

October 12, 2011 | Filed under: Farming | Posted by:

cover crops
Image by djfrantic

Question by iSwim26: Why do farmers cover their plants with water before a freeze?
In agricultural areas, farmers pay close attention to the weather forecast. Right before a predicted overnight freeze, farmers spray water on crops to protect the plants. Use properties of water to explain how this works. Be sure to mention why hydrogen bonds are responsible for this phenomenon.

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One Response to Why do farmers cover their plants with water before a freeze?

  1. You may want to look up: Latent Heat and phase-transitions in water.

    See: Change in State and Latent Heat
    http://daphne.palomar.edu/jthorngren/latent.htm

    Bob D
    October 12, 2011 at 10:57 pm
    Reply

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