Jan 06 2010
Ice on the Pond and a Hypothetical in Mind
There was a thin layer of ice on our goldfish pond this morning. An interesting attribute of the physics in our universe is that water expands as it freezes. In a solid state it has more volume than in a liquid. Which is unusual. It also explains why ice forms on the top of a pond and floats. More volume for the same quantity of molecules equals lower density. And floatation.
I wonder what our universe, and more importantly, our planet, would be like if water didn’t expand upon freezing. One thing’s for certain: speed skating wouldn’t be included in the winter Olympic games.
