Hey! In which state, ice or water, are particles closer together?

March 13, 2008

Posted by charles

( 0 ratings )

I'm no scientist, but as I recall particles get further apart the hotter they get, ie. as the particles heat up they get agitated and expand apart. On this basis you'd expect the particles in ice would be closer together because ice is colder...

BUT, from practical experience I know that water actually expands on freezing...try sticking a bottle of water in the freezer and it might explode...actually best not try that ;)

I googled around and found this good explanation of why. Seems most liquids do contract on freezing but water is one of the few exceptions.

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