• Question: why does the process of frezzing occour

    Asked by mattyboy123 to Tim, Stephen, Sammie, Rachel, Mark, Lisa on 8 Mar 2018.
    • Photo: Tim Duckenfield

      Tim Duckenfield answered on 8 Mar 2018:

      When something is hot, it means the particles that make up that substance (for example water has H20 particles) are jiggling and whizzing around in every direction, they are all super excited. When you cool the water down, the particles get less excited and slow down as though they are tired. When you cool them down to 0 degrees, they are so sluggish they pack together, and do the particle equivalent of giving each other a hug, they link. Lots of particles link together and form a pattern that is regular – we call this ice! How quickly they cool down affects this pattern, this is why snowflakes all look different – you are seeing the pattern they form!

    • Photo: Rachel Dewhurst

      Rachel Dewhurst answered on 8 Mar 2018:

      The water molecules slow down and join up – Tim’s answer about the molecular equivalent of a hug is great – because they are polarized (the oxygen is relatively large compared to the hydrogen atoms and has a negative charge, the hydrogen ones have a positive charge). This means they can get really closed together in a nice orderly manner. The charges are what cause surface tension as well.

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