Eli5: Why does water expand while freezing, and what would happen if it was frozen in pressurized enviroment/container that cannot expand?
In: Physics
Water molecules have a peculiar property, in that they’re banana/boomerang shaped, with a permanent positive and negative electric charges at the ends (hydrogensl and the middle (oxygen) respectively. They’re a dipole.
When water freezes in normal conditions, this results in the crystal taking on a sort of sponge structure, with big voids between a lattice of water molecules. These voids are why the solid crystal occupies more volume.
As for what what happens if it’s contained, it depends on the strength of the container. Most will burst at their weakest point. But if they’re strong enough, they can force the water to stay liquid below a temperature where it would normally freeze, or take on a solid crystal structure that occupies less volume than the usual one.
Turns out ice can take on like twenty different arrangements at different temperatures snd pressures, with different properties.
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