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Most liquids freeze by crystallization, formation of crystalline solid from the uniform liquid. This is a first-order thermodynamic phase transition, which means that as long as solid and liquid coexist, the temperature of the whole system remains very nearly equal to the melting point due to the slow removal of heat when in contact with air, which is a poor heat conductor.
Energy becomes available to increase the thermal energy (temperature) only after enough hydrogen bonds are broken that the ice can be considered liquid water. The amount of energy consumed in breaking hydrogen bonds in the transition from ice to water is known as the heat of fusion. [12] [8]
The lower temperature water will tend to freeze from the top, reducing further heat loss by radiation and air convection, while the warmer water will tend to freeze from the bottom and sides because of water convection. This is disputed as there are experiments that account for this factor. [5]
Regular, hexagonal ice is also less dense than liquid water—upon freezing, the density of water decreases by about 9%. [36] [e] These peculiar effects are due to the highly directional bonding of water molecules via the hydrogen bonds: ice and liquid water at low temperature have comparatively low-density, low-energy open lattice structures.
Enthalpies of melting and boiling for pure elements versus temperatures of transition, demonstrating Trouton's rule. In thermodynamics, the enthalpy of fusion of a substance, also known as (latent) heat of fusion, is the change in its enthalpy resulting from providing energy, typically heat, to a specific quantity of the substance to change its state from a solid to a liquid, at constant pressure.
It was known that when the air temperature rises above freezing—air then becoming the obvious heat source—snow melts very slowly and the temperature of the melted snow is close to its freezing point. [5] In 1757, Black started to investigate if heat, therefore, was required for the melting of a solid, independent of any rise in temperature.
One example of this is the cooling crystallization of water that can occur when the system's surroundings are below freezing temperatures. Unconstrained heat transfer can spontaneously occur, leading to water molecules freezing into a crystallized structure of reduced disorder (sticking together in a certain order due to molecular attraction).
During the final stage of freezing, an ice drop develops a pointy tip, which is not observed for most other liquids, and arises because water expands as it freezes. [10] Once the liquid is completely frozen, the sharp tip of the drop attracts water vapor in the air, much like a sharp metal lightning rod attracts electrical charges. [10]