eli5: Why is water the only substance that explands when it freezes?
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It’s not the only one, but it’s one of the few. Water is made of oxygen and hydrogen atoms, this type of molecules interact with each other through hydrogen bonds, which are way stronger than the Van der Waals forces, which are usually the only ones that appear in most compounds. When temperature is lowered, atoms slow down* so they tend to get closer to each other. In the case of water, this deceleration makes it easier for Hydrogen bonds to keep molecules in place and eventually create more open structures.
Note: Hydrogen bonds appear in many more compounds, but they are especially strong in water
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