Eli5: why do Ice cubes get smaller when left in the freezer for an extended period
In: 10
The answers attributing this to sublimation are incorrect. You can see from the [phase diagram of water](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase_diagram) that at freezer conditions, the ice will melt not sublimate.
What is likely happening is that the ice is melting and reforming somewhere else (like the bottom of the ice tray). This is caused for either a defrosting cycle or the ice just changing shape.
Note: ice in steady state will leave the same amount of water frozen but not necessarily the exact same molecules. e. g. Ice can gain a frozen molecule on the bottom without removing heat from the system and long as it loses one on the top. This is why ice cubes fuse together in your glass of water even though the overall temperature of your drink is “too warm” to form ice. Over time this process can change the shape of the ice without actually losing any ice.
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