- Pure water freezes at exactly 0°C (32°F) under normal atmospheric pressure. During this process, liquid water transforms into ice, forming a highly organized crystalline structure.
- As water cools, its molecules slow down and move closer together as their kinetic energy decreases. When water reaches its freezing point, it releases 334 joules (80 calories) of heat energy per gram. This release of energy, called the latent heat of fusion, occurs because water molecules in liquid form have more energy than those in ice.
- The freezing process begins with nucleation, where the first tiny ice crystals form. This can happen spontaneously or be triggered by impurities or surfaces in the water. These initial crystals serve as building blocks for further ice formation.
- As freezing continues, more water molecules attach to these growing ice crystals, creating a solid lattice structure held together by hydrogen bonds (known as a hexagonal lattice). During this process, the released latent heat temporarily warms the remaining liquid water until it too reaches the freezing point.
- A unique property of water is that it expands by approximately 9% when freezing, making ice less dense than liquid water. This explains why ice floats, a characteristic crucial for life in aquatic ecosystems.
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