Nucleate?
- By Simon Oliver
- •
- 06 Feb, 2017
- •
Nucleate? What's that about then?
For quite a while now, I've watched the same blank expression spread across clients faces when I tell them the name of my company, it is a bit of a mouthful, I know, but I like it and it is so very relevant to what my company does; so perhaps I should explain a little.
Cast your mind back to 2010. The UK was in the depths of the harshest winter we had seen for many years and the area in which I live is very rural, so temperatures dropped to -15 and we had a good 3 foot of snow. Now obviously, in the UK we don't cope with weather like that very well, so as you would expect, everything ground to a halt; no schools; no work, just excitable children and the prospect of sledging and snowball fights.
Random question. Have you ever left bottled water out in the car overnight in winter? most of us have. But have you noticed that very occasionally, even though the water in the bottle is way below freezing point, it doesn't freeze?
This is what I noticed that cold winter in 2010, but not only that, but the moment you touch the bottle, the liquid water inside instantly turns to ice; literally in seconds. It is pretty magical to see actually (especially when small children are around - great dad points!).
So, being curious (and a bit of a geek) I wanted to find out why water did this and why, so google became my friend and I established that it is referred to as 'super-cooled water' and Youtube is awash with many videos showing you this phenomenon if you are curious (or bored!).
After watching a few of these, I was still keen to know why water did this, but only sometimes, so cranked up google once more.
It turns out that water can be cooled way below freezing point and it won't freeze, as in order to freeze, it needs somewhere to start, a single point within the bottle to start forming ice, which then grows and grows and so on. Without that starting point, which maybe a speck of dust or an impurity in the bottle, water will not freeze.
Where is he going with this, I hear you mutter...
Well. There is a name for that starting point and this triggers every reaction after it. That starting point is called nucleation; The point at which water has the right conditions and a trigger to change. The change can be pretty swift, pretty impressive and totally transforms everything that follows.
(Seriously, if you can get a bottled water super cooled this winter, pick it up gently and flick the bottle once - your kids will think you are a god! or harry potter or something.)
See nucleation struck a chord with me;
The starting point of radical change; the catalyst; the trigger; the bit that makes the difference.
That's what I want my company to achieve - to be that catalyst; that trigger; the bit that makes a difference.
Nucleate Ltd was born.
So yes, it is an odd name, but it has a story and it just works.
Cast your mind back to 2010. The UK was in the depths of the harshest winter we had seen for many years and the area in which I live is very rural, so temperatures dropped to -15 and we had a good 3 foot of snow. Now obviously, in the UK we don't cope with weather like that very well, so as you would expect, everything ground to a halt; no schools; no work, just excitable children and the prospect of sledging and snowball fights.
Random question. Have you ever left bottled water out in the car overnight in winter? most of us have. But have you noticed that very occasionally, even though the water in the bottle is way below freezing point, it doesn't freeze?
This is what I noticed that cold winter in 2010, but not only that, but the moment you touch the bottle, the liquid water inside instantly turns to ice; literally in seconds. It is pretty magical to see actually (especially when small children are around - great dad points!).
So, being curious (and a bit of a geek) I wanted to find out why water did this and why, so google became my friend and I established that it is referred to as 'super-cooled water' and Youtube is awash with many videos showing you this phenomenon if you are curious (or bored!).
After watching a few of these, I was still keen to know why water did this, but only sometimes, so cranked up google once more.
It turns out that water can be cooled way below freezing point and it won't freeze, as in order to freeze, it needs somewhere to start, a single point within the bottle to start forming ice, which then grows and grows and so on. Without that starting point, which maybe a speck of dust or an impurity in the bottle, water will not freeze.
Where is he going with this, I hear you mutter...
Well. There is a name for that starting point and this triggers every reaction after it. That starting point is called nucleation; The point at which water has the right conditions and a trigger to change. The change can be pretty swift, pretty impressive and totally transforms everything that follows.
(Seriously, if you can get a bottled water super cooled this winter, pick it up gently and flick the bottle once - your kids will think you are a god! or harry potter or something.)
See nucleation struck a chord with me;
The starting point of radical change; the catalyst; the trigger; the bit that makes the difference.
That's what I want my company to achieve - to be that catalyst; that trigger; the bit that makes a difference.
Nucleate Ltd was born.
So yes, it is an odd name, but it has a story and it just works.