Why does dry ice "dissolve" so quickly in water?

I just stumbled across [an ancient video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhXA9ON6igk) of some people putting a 60 pound block of dry ice in a swimming pool. Pretty cool stuff.


It's pretty interesting to me that in the video, the dry ice sublimates much quicker in the water than in the air.


I am wondering why this might be? Is it possible that water is acting as some sort of catalyst? If so, how can I picture this on a microscopic level? (That might not be possible to answer but the catalyst portion is.)


I was thinking that the $\ce{CO2}$ might be motivated to form carbonic acid, and by Le Chatelier's principle, the dry ice would sublimate even faster.


I'm not so sure that makes sense though...


I don't know. Any thoughts?




It's just about heat capacity + heat conductance, nothing more. $\ce{CO2}$ sublimates much quicker in the water because water is much better at heat exchange than air. Anybody who ever experienced swimming in water at 15°C and walking in air at 15°C can attest to that.


Catalysts for heat exchange are usually made of copper and other metals. (Also, usually they are not called *catalysts*.) You have one in your computer, attached to the CPU.


As to formation of carbonic acid, it hardly has any influence on the process (though it does happen to a certain extent, of course). Most $\ce{CO2}$ escapes in gaseous form anyway.


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