Why does ice have a different density than water?

Answer 1

When water turns to ice, the ice takes up more volume than does water. This is also why ice floats. Water is one of very few things that expand when colder.

Interestingly enough, ice is not a true solid. It has no crystalline structure. It is a "supercooled liquid" like glass. Ice can flow, slowly, as in glaciers. Glass flows as well, but takes centuries. Ancient stained-glass windows have bits of glass in them that are measurably thicker towards the bottom, as they have flowed downwards, slightly.

Answer 2

When water freezes and becomes a solid the molecules become arranged in a certain pettern called a crystal lattice. In this arrangement the molecules are father away from each other and the ice is bigger. Because the molecules are farthe apart the ice is less dense than the water.

Answer 3

Ice has a lower density than water because when water freezes, its molecules form a crystalline structure that spaces them farther apart than in liquid water. This causes ice to take up more volume for the same amount of mass, resulting in its lower density.

Answer 4

Because ice is a frozen solid and water is not.

Answer 5

This is because the volume of water increases slightly when it freezes. According to the kinetic particle theory liquids particles are spaced slightly further apart than in solids.