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Most materials contract when going from a liquid to a solid state. This is because materials have more thermal energy in the liquid state, meaning that the molecules have enough energy to move around freely but still remain loosely bound to each other. When the material freezes, the molecules lose the thermal energy and cannot overcome the intermolecular forces, therefore staying in place and forming a rigid solid. When the molecules in the material become rigid they take up less overall space compared to when the molecules were freely moving around in the liquid state.

Water, however, is an important exception to this rule. When water freezes the individual water molecules line up with one another to form a lattice-like crystal structure. When water is in its liquid state the individual molecules were free to move around each other. When water freezes, the rigid ordering of the molecules takes up more space, resulting in greater volume but lower density. This is why ice floats and freezing a can of soda will cause the can to burst.

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Q: Do most materials expand or contract when frozen?
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