Freeze Point of Water

Freeze Point of Waterを徹底追究! 読者が気になる 情報と解説を分かりやすく展開します。

Now here’s the weirdest part. Most liquids get denser as they freeze. Water does the opposite. When water freezes, it expands by about nine percent. That’s why your can of soda explodes in the freezer if you forget it overnight. It’s also why ice floats.

Think about that for a second. Solid ice is less dense than liquid water. Every other substance on Earth sinks in its own melt. Not water. Water’s solid form is a rebellious, floating jerk. If ice sank, lakes would freeze from the bottom up, killing all the fish, and we’d probably all be dead. So, thank you, ice, for being a buoyant weirdo.

The expansion is also why your pipes burst in winter. The ice expands inside the pipe, crushing the metal like a giant invisible fist. Then, when it thaws, you get an indoor swimming pool. Fun.

The Pressure Cooking Trick

Did you know you can freeze water just by squeezing it? No, not with your hands, but with extreme pressure. Under enough force, water will freeze at room temperature. Scientists do this in labs to make “hot ice.” It’s exactly as confusing as it sounds.

Take it further: at thousands of atmospheres of pressure, water forms bizarre crystals. There’s Ice IX (yes, that’s a real name) and Ice VII. They are denser than liquid water, so they sink. One type even exists naturally at the bottom of ice sheets on Jupiter’s moons. You are currently reading about a substance that behaves differently on other planets. Your tap water is an interplanetary drama queen.

Freezing Of Water