ElI5 what exactly happens in the freezing process that makes ice less dense than liquid water?
In: Physics
It’s a result of something called hydrogen bonding. Effectively as the water loses energy and freezes it will fall into the most stable state. The extra volume matters less than favorable crystal formation. In liquid water it has enough energy to overcome this tendency to spaced out crystals and the hydrogen bonding is less relevant to how the molecules behave. This they can fall closer together.
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