The freezing of water

Abstract

The structure of the water molecule and the ways in which water molecules combine to form ice and water are discussed and it is concluded that water is best pictured as consisting of a mixture of molecules bonded into 'flickering clusters' together with a proportion of non-bonded molecules. The structure changes which must occur on freezing are examined and the theories of homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation are outlined. It is concluded that, though a detailed understanding of the freezing process has not yet been achieved, a reasonably effective phenomenological description can be put forward. Show more