explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1561: Water Phase Diagram

2015-08-07T15:34:32Z

Lokar: /* Related comics */

{{comic
| number = 1561
| date = August 7, 2015
| title = Water Phase Diagram
| image = water_phase_diagram.png
| titletext = Vanilla Ice was produced in small quantities for years, but it wasn't until the 90s that experimenters collaborated to produce a sample that could survive at room temperature for several months.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete| Ethion of scientific detail required.}}

This is a modified version of the {{w|phase diagram}} for water. A "phase diagram" is a chart that shows the states, or "phases", that a substance will be in under various temperatures and pressures. Water's phases are particularly well-studied; on a [http://ergodic.ugr.es/termo/lecciones/water1.html real phase diagram for water], there are a great many phases listed.

Most people are familiar with three phases of water—solid, liquid, and gas—and with the fact that an increase in temperature will cause water to change from one state to another. The gas and liquid phases ("water vapor" and "liquid water") are quite straightforward; however, there is in fact not one single solid phase of water ("ice"), but a variety of numbered phases ("ice I" through "ice XV" are currently recognized), several of which are divided into sub-categories. Ordinary, everyday ice is known as "{{w|Ice Ih|ice Ih}}" ("ice one-h"). Most of the more unusual forms of ice only form under very high pressures.

Randall's phase diagram starts out realistically, though slightly simplified in several ways. For one, it simply uses the name "ice" for the usual form(s). It is focused in on a narrower area than the more complete diagram linked earlier; on that version, the "ice V" region is quite small, and "ice III" is barely visible, whereas both are quite plain to see on Randall's diagram. Lastly, Randall has the pressure scale increase downwards (which facilitates the David Bowie/Queen entry being "under" pressure), where most phase diagrams have pressure increase upwards.

As the diagram continues downwards and the pressure increases, the jokes begin. Beyond the moderately high-pressure forms of ice (ice II, III and V), a real phase diagram has ice VI; Randall has "{{w|Vanilla Ice}}" (the name of a white rap/hip-hop artist from the 1990s). Vanilla Ice's biggest hit, "{{w|Ice Ice Baby}}", used samples from the earlier song "{{w|Under Pressure}}", by {{w|David Bowie}} and {{w|Queen (band)|Queen}}; accordingly, on Randall's diagram, the "Vanilla Ice" region transitions to "David Bowie & Queen" when it is under (even higher) pressure.

Further references to "Ice Ice Baby" are found in the title text. Near the beginning of the song, Vanilla Ice raps the line, "All right stop, collaborate and listen". The unusual choice of "collaborate" in this line has made it memorable, and the word is used in the title text (in a more typical context). The phrase "survive at room temperature for several months" is likely a reference to "Ice Ice Baby" being Vanilla Ice's only major hit, humorously suggesting he faded out of the public view after a few months of fame. Finally, even the word "sample" may be deliberately chosen as a reference to the sampling of "Under Pressure".

Roman number six (VI) can be interpreted as acronym for Vanilla Ice.

Lastly, another image is faintly visible just below and to the right of the "Water Vapor" label. It appears to be a copy of an actual phase diagram for water [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phase_diagram_of_water.svg from Wikipedia]. This image could be a reference to the "Full text of the Wikipedia article on pareidolia" joke in the [[1551: Pluto]] comic.

===Related comics===
Randall has referenced "Ice Ice Baby" and "Under Pressure", separately and together, on many previous occasions, notably in [[159: Boombox]].

The [[what if?]] that was current at the time of this comic's publication was [http://what-if.xkcd.com/138/ 138: Jupiter Submarine], which began with an even more fanciful phase diagram: that of a submarine.
It also contains a reference to the songs "Under Pressure" and "Ice Ice Baby" in one figure.

The title text of [[1434: Where Do Birds Go]] whimsically suggests another possible phase of water/ice.

The small image on the graph could be a reference to the "Full text of the Wikipedia article on pareidolia" joke in the [[1551: Pluto]] comic.

==Transcript==
:[A phase diagram is shown with eight labeled regions]

:[The horizontal axis, increasing in value to the the right is labeled:]
:Temperature

:[The vertical axis, increasing in value downwards is labeled:]
:Pressure

:[Region alongside the "Pressure" axis covering about half of its length is labeled:]
:Ice

:[Region spanning top-right corner of graph, i.e. higher temperatures and lower pressures. Below and to the right of the label there seems to be an insert of a small picture of the real phase diagram. The region is labeled:]
:Water vapor

:[Region below "Water vapor" and to the right of "Ice" is labeled:]
:Liquid water

:[Three small regions below "Ice" are going from left to right on the same pressure region, the last ending just under "Liquid water". They are each labeled:]
:Ice II
:Ice III
:Ice V

:[Region below "Ice II", "Ice III", "Ice V" and "Liquid water" is labeled:]
:Vanilla Ice
:(Ice VI)

:[Below "Vanilla Ice" there is a dashed line with two arrows pointing downwards. The region below the dashed line is labeled:]
:David Bowie & Queen

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category: Charts]]

1561: Water Phase Diagram

2015-08-07T15:32:50Z

Lokar: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1561
| date = August 7, 2015
| title = Water Phase Diagram
| image = water_phase_diagram.png
| titletext = Vanilla Ice was produced in small quantities for years, but it wasn't until the 90s that experimenters collaborated to produce a sample that could survive at room temperature for several months.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete| Ethion of scientific detail required.}}

This is a modified version of the {{w|phase diagram}} for water. A "phase diagram" is a chart that shows the states, or "phases", that a substance will be in under various temperatures and pressures. Water's phases are particularly well-studied; on a [http://ergodic.ugr.es/termo/lecciones/water1.html real phase diagram for water], there are a great many phases listed.

Most people are familiar with three phases of water—solid, liquid, and gas—and with the fact that an increase in temperature will cause water to change from one state to another. The gas and liquid phases ("water vapor" and "liquid water") are quite straightforward; however, there is in fact not one single solid phase of water ("ice"), but a variety of numbered phases ("ice I" through "ice XV" are currently recognized), several of which are divided into sub-categories. Ordinary, everyday ice is known as "{{w|Ice Ih|ice Ih}}" ("ice one-h"). Most of the more unusual forms of ice only form under very high pressures.

Randall's phase diagram starts out realistically, though slightly simplified in several ways. For one, it simply uses the name "ice" for the usual form(s). It is focused in on a narrower area than the more complete diagram linked earlier; on that version, the "ice V" region is quite small, and "ice III" is barely visible, whereas both are quite plain to see on Randall's diagram. Lastly, Randall has the pressure scale increase downwards (which facilitates the David Bowie/Queen entry being "under" pressure), where most phase diagrams have pressure increase upwards.

As the diagram continues downwards and the pressure increases, the jokes begin. Beyond the moderately high-pressure forms of ice (ice II, III and V), a real phase diagram has ice VI; Randall has "{{w|Vanilla Ice}}" (the name of a white rap/hip-hop artist from the 1990s). Vanilla Ice's biggest hit, "{{w|Ice Ice Baby}}", used samples from the earlier song "{{w|Under Pressure}}", by {{w|David Bowie}} and {{w|Queen (band)|Queen}}; accordingly, on Randall's diagram, the "Vanilla Ice" region transitions to "David Bowie & Queen" when it is under (even higher) pressure.

Further references to "Ice Ice Baby" are found in the title text. Near the beginning of the song, Vanilla Ice raps the line, "All right stop, collaborate and listen". The unusual choice of "collaborate" in this line has made it memorable, and the word is used in the title text (in a more typical context). The phrase "survive at room temperature for several months" is likely a reference to "Ice Ice Baby" being Vanilla Ice's only major hit, humorously suggesting he faded out of the public view after a few months of fame. Finally, even the word "sample" may be deliberately chosen as a reference to the sampling of "Under Pressure".

Roman number six (VI) can be interpreted as acronym for Vanilla Ice.

Lastly, another image is faintly visible just below and to the right of the "Water Vapor" label. It appears to be a copy of an actual phase diagram for water [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phase_diagram_of_water.svg from Wikipedia]. This image could be a reference to the "Full text of the Wikipedia article on pareidolia" joke in the [[1551: Pluto]] comic.

===Related comics===
Randall has referenced "Ice Ice Baby" and "Under Pressure", separately and together, on many previous occasions, notably in [[159: Boombox]].

The [[what if?]] that was current at the time of this comic's publication was [http://what-if.xkcd.com/138/ 138: Jupiter Submarine], which began with an even more fanciful phase diagram: that of a submarine.
It also contains a reference to the songs "Under Pressure" and "Ice Ice Baby" in one figure.

The title text of [[1434: Where Do Birds Go]] whimsically suggests another possible phase of water/ice.

==Transcript==
:[A phase diagram is shown with eight labeled regions]

:[The horizontal axis, increasing in value to the the right is labeled:]
:Temperature

:[The vertical axis, increasing in value downwards is labeled:]
:Pressure

:[Region alongside the "Pressure" axis covering about half of its length is labeled:]
:Ice

:[Region spanning top-right corner of graph, i.e. higher temperatures and lower pressures. Below and to the right of the label there seems to be an insert of a small picture of the real phase diagram. The region is labeled:]
:Water vapor

:[Region below "Water vapor" and to the right of "Ice" is labeled:]
:Liquid water

:[Three small regions below "Ice" are going from left to right on the same pressure region, the last ending just under "Liquid water". They are each labeled:]
:Ice II
:Ice III
:Ice V

:[Region below "Ice II", "Ice III", "Ice V" and "Liquid water" is labeled:]
:Vanilla Ice
:(Ice VI)

:[Below "Vanilla Ice" there is a dashed line with two arrows pointing downwards. The region below the dashed line is labeled:]
:David Bowie & Queen

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category: Charts]]

1561: Water Phase Diagram

2015-08-07T15:28:58Z

Lokar: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1561
| date = August 7, 2015
| title = Water Phase Diagram
| image = water_phase_diagram.png
| titletext = Vanilla Ice was produced in small quantities for years, but it wasn't until the 90s that experimenters collaborated to produce a sample that could survive at room temperature for several months.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete| Ethion of scientific detail required.}}

This is a modified version of the {{w|phase diagram}} for water. A "phase diagram" is a chart that shows the states, or "phases", that a substance will be in under various temperatures and pressures. Water's phases are particularly well-studied; on a [http://ergodic.ugr.es/termo/lecciones/water1.html real phase diagram for water], there are a great many phases listed.

Most people are familiar with three phases of water—solid, liquid, and gas—and with the fact that an increase in temperature will cause water to change from one state to another. The gas and liquid phases ("water vapor" and "liquid water") are quite straightforward; however, there is in fact not one single solid phase of water ("ice"), but a variety of numbered phases ("ice I" through "ice XV" are currently recognized), several of which are divided into sub-categories. Ordinary, everyday ice is known as "{{w|Ice Ih|ice Ih}}" ("ice one-h"). Most of the more unusual forms of ice only form under very high pressures.

Randall's phase diagram starts out realistically, though slightly simplified in several ways. For one, it simply uses the name "ice" for the usual form(s). It is focused in on a narrower area than the more complete diagram linked earlier; on that version, the "ice V" region is quite small, and "ice III" is barely visible, whereas both are quite plain to see on Randall's diagram. Lastly, Randall has the pressure scale increase downwards (which facilitates the David Bowie/Queen entry being "under" pressure), where most phase diagrams have pressure increase upwards.

As the diagram continues downwards and the pressure increases, the jokes begin. Beyond the moderately high-pressure forms of ice (ice II, III and V), a real phase diagram has ice VI; Randall has "{{w|Vanilla Ice}}" (the name of a white rap/hip-hop artist from the 1990s). Vanilla Ice's biggest hit, "{{w|Ice Ice Baby}}", used samples from the earlier song "{{w|Under Pressure}}", by {{w|David Bowie}} and {{w|Queen (band)|Queen}}; accordingly, on Randall's diagram, the "Vanilla Ice" region transitions to "David Bowie & Queen" when it is under (even higher) pressure.

Further references to "Ice Ice Baby" are found in the title text. Near the beginning of the song, Vanilla Ice raps the line, "All right stop, collaborate and listen". The unusual choice of "collaborate" in this line has made it memorable, and the word is used in the title text (in a more typical context). The phrase "survive at room temperature for several months" is likely a reference to "Ice Ice Baby" being Vanilla Ice's only major hit, humorously suggesting he faded out of the public view after a few months of fame. Finally, even the word "sample" may be deliberately chosen as a reference to the sampling of "Under Pressure".

Roman number six (VI) can be interpreted as acronym for Vanilla Ice.

Lastly, another image is faintly visible just below and to the right of the "Water Vapor" label. It appears to be a copy of an actual phase diagram for water [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phase_diagram_of_water.svg from Wikipedia]. This image could be a reference to the "Full text of the Wikipedia article on pareidolia" joke in the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1551 Pluto] comic.

===Related comics===
Randall has referenced "Ice Ice Baby" and "Under Pressure", separately and together, on many previous occasions, notably in [[159: Boombox]].

The [[what if?]] that was current at the time of this comic's publication was [http://what-if.xkcd.com/138/ 138: Jupiter Submarine], which began with an even more fanciful phase diagram: that of a submarine.
It also contains a reference to the songs "Under Pressure" and "Ice Ice Baby" in one figure.

The title text of [[1434: Where Do Birds Go]] whimsically suggests another possible phase of water/ice.

==Transcript==
:[A phase diagram is shown with eight labeled regions]

:[The horizontal axis, increasing in value to the the right is labeled:]
:Temperature

:[The vertical axis, increasing in value downwards is labeled:]
:Pressure

:[Region alongside the "Pressure" axis covering about half of its length is labeled:]
:Ice

:[Region spanning top-right corner of graph, i.e. higher temperatures and lower pressures. Below and to the right of the label there seems to be an insert of a small picture of the real phase diagram. The region is labeled:]
:Water vapor

:[Region below "Water vapor" and to the right of "Ice" is labeled:]
:Liquid water

:[Three small regions below "Ice" are going from left to right on the same pressure region, the last ending just under "Liquid water". They are each labeled:]
:Ice II
:Ice III
:Ice V

:[Region below "Ice II", "Ice III", "Ice V" and "Liquid water" is labeled:]
:Vanilla Ice
:(Ice VI)

:[Below "Vanilla Ice" there is a dashed line with two arrows pointing downwards. The region below the dashed line is labeled:]
:David Bowie & Queen

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category: Charts]]

Talk:1561: Water Phase Diagram

2015-08-07T15:26:52Z

Lokar:

What's up with that square under "water vapor"? Is it just a glitch, or is it some hidden message like in https://xkcd.com/1005/? [[User:Nick818|Nick818]] ([[User talk:Nick818|talk]])

I think it is a hidden message, it almost looks like a tiny graph.

It looks like a tiny version of the same graph, but flipped upright so that pressure increases as you go up. (Doing this in the main strip would ruin the "Under Pressure" joke. --[[User:Druid816|Druid816]] ([[User talk:Druid816|talk]]) 05:19, 7 August 2015 (UTC)

I'd say it's the phase diagram Randall used as a template, see [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase_diagram#Crystal_phase_diagrams Wikipedia] --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.232|108.162.229.232]] 05:28, 7 August 2015 (UTC)

The only thing I can think of is "water + vapor + paper" with the letters being {unique, identical, second, first, identical}. No idea if that means anything. It's probably just a pencil drawing that Randall forgot to remove before publishing. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.70|108.162.216.70]] 06:45, 7 August 2015 (UTC)
:Seems to be the phase diagram from wikipedia. I put a contrast enhanced zoom [http://i.imgur.com/wJGVriV.png here] and it corresponds extremely well with the wikipedia version (including darker pixels where the blue is). -- [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.234|141.101.105.234]] 13:36, 7 August 2015 (UTC)
::I think it might be a reference to the "Full text of the Wikipedia article on pareidolia" of the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1551 Pluto comic]. --[[User:Lokar|Lokar]] ([[User talk:Lokar|talk]]) 15:26, 7 August 2015 (UTC)
Why no mention of the relation to the current whatif? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.91.91|141.101.91.91]] 07:01, 7 August 2015 (UTC)

Disagree that the title text is definitely in reference to any line in the song, just because it includes the word "collaborate[d]" [[Special:Contributions/108.162.228.17|108.162.228.17]] 07:49, 7 August 2015 (UTC)

Surely this comic would have been a perfect opportunity to mention {{w|Kurt Vonnegut}}'s fictional {{w|Ice-nine}}? Disappointed in you Randall! [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 09:42, 7 August 2015 (UTC)

I’m not happy with the title-text-explanation. In my eyes the joke is that Randall try to make us believe that Vanilla-icecream is ice IV – and they somehow managed in the 90s to let it exists at high temperatures (for us: normal room temp). --[[User:DaB.|DaB.]] ([[User talk:DaB.|talk]]) 11:31, 7 August 2015 (UTC)
: I have to disagree for one important reason: (Vanilla) Icecream was produced in high quantities since approx. the 1950's (or even earlier) and not just since the 90's, which is common sense, I think. Imho "Vanilla Ice was produced in small quantities for years" refers more to the fact, that many of Vanilla Ice's tracks consist of different samples of earlier produced songs (such as Under Pressure) or even complete covers (i.e. Play that funky Music). However, Randall might have missed another perfect opportunity for a different joke: Since "Vanilla" is used as expression for "normal" or "trivial" he could have placed it for Ice (I), the "normal" solid water. In that case the Under Pressure reference would have been a bit less obvious, though. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 12:22, 7 August 2015 (UTC)

I thought for sure the intersection of the three was called "Ice-T" [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.184|173.245.48.184]] 13:40, 7 August 2015 (UTC)

I don't see any square, faded or otherwise, by label "water vapor". [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.231|108.162.219.231]] 13:04, 7 August 2015 (UTC)

I have to very strongly disagree with the opinion expressed by [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.173|108.162.216.173]] in [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1561:_Water_Phase_Diagram&diff=99284&oldid=99281 this edit], namely that 'pressure scale incresing down isn't so jokes are at bottom, it facilitates being "Under" Pressure - the joke doesn't work any other way.' Being at the bottom along the pressure axis doesn't mean that region is "under" pressure. It's "under" Vanilla Ice. The joke works because it is ''under pressure'', a very high amount of pressure, not because it is geometrically below pressure in any sense (it really isn't). My original text, that pressure increases downwards so the jokes are at the bottom, makes far more sense to me (well, naturally). It's the "reveal". If the jokes were at the top, they'd be read before the average reader had even grasped what the comic was about. But anyway, that's just my opinion; does anyone else have any thoughts? -- [[User:Peregrine|Peregrine]] ([[User talk:Peregrine|talk]]) 15:07, 7 August 2015 (UTC)