The assertion that cold water boils faster than hot water is debunked by the understanding that the rate of heating in a liquid is contingent upon the temperature difference between the liquid and its surroundings. Although cold water initially absorbs heat more rapidly while still cold, once it reaches the temperature of hot water, the heating rate diminishes. Consequently, hot water generally requires less time to reach the boiling point. Despite a psychological effect causing cold water to appear to boil sooner due to its higher heat absorption rate when colder, the practical outcome is that hot water tends to boil faster.

The nuanced conclusion is that under certain conditions, hot water might freeze faster than cold water. This occurs because water hotter than 80 degrees Celsius experiences rapid cooling through vaporization, drawing a significant amount of heat from the remaining water. However, hot water does not freeze before cold water; rather, it freezes before lukewarm water. This phenomenon is evident, especially when the surface area cooling by rapid evaporation is substantial, such as when washing a car with hot water on a cold winter day.

In specific scenarios, like placing pans of hot and cold water with equal mass in a freezer, hot water may freeze faster due to a combination of the evaporation effect and thermal contact with the freezer shelf. The convection currents formed during the cooling process contribute to this outcome. It’s noteworthy that, in such cases, the freezer works harder, extracting more heat from the hot water during the given timeframe. This complex interplay of factors leads to variations in freezing and boiling times, illustrating that the answer is “Not usually, but possibly under certain conditions.