Question
Describe the structures of ice and of liquid water, and explain why ice floats in water.
Step 1
Ice is a solid form of water that has a crystalline structure. In ice, water molecules (Hâ‚‚O) are arranged in a hexagonal lattice. Each water molecule forms hydrogen bonds with four neighboring water molecules, creating a stable, open structure that maximizes the Show more…
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Explain why ice floats on water.
Explain clearly why ice floats on liquid water. Make sure your explanation is at the molecular level (what happens to the molecules of water in ice vs in liquid water?). Include hydrogen bonding interaction between water molecules and how it affects the density.
Discuss how the combined volume of the billions and billions of hexagonal open spaces in the structures of ice crystals in a piece of ice compares with the portion of the ice that floats above the waterline.
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