Actually, it’s not an urban myth. Hot water can freeze faster than cold water. Set wooden buckets (not metal!) of almost boiling water and room temperature water outside on a subfreezing day. Since the water cools mainly by evaporation, the hotter water will freeze first. If metal pails are used, then water cools by Newtonian heat transfer, and the colder will freeze first. See “The Freezing of Hot and Cold Water,” by G. S. Kell in the
Am. Journal of Physics, vol 37, pg. 564 (1969).
Actually, it’s not an urban myth. Hot water can freeze faster than cold water. Set wooden buckets (not metal!) of almost boiling water and room temperature water outside on a subfreezing day. Since the water cools mainly by evaporation, the hotter water will freeze first. If metal pails are used, then water cools by Newtonian heat transfer, and the colder will freeze first. See “The Freezing of Hot and Cold Water,” by G. S. Kell in the Am. Journal of Physics, vol 37, pg. 564 (1969).