What happens if you put water and ice in an (almost) indestructible box?

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If I filled a box TO THE BRIM with 75% water and 25% ice, sealed the box shut in a way that it was as if it was never openable, and then waited for the ice to melt, what would happen? Would it manage to destroy the box? Would I accidentally start a black hole that would suck up the Earth and kill us all?

In: Physics

7 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

“Put something in a hard shell and then increase the volume of its contents” is how bombs work.

In case of bombs the volume expansion is generated by chemistry.

Melting ice decreases in volume. The reverse – putting water into a container and freezing it – is a sure way to break things though. Do you have winters? We do. And people keep damaging their plumbing or water systems by leaving the water in them for the winter. The pipes and tanks freeze over and eventually burst.

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