Question

when water freezes, what happens to the volume of the sample? it decreases. it increases. it stays the same.

Explanation:

When water freezes, it expands. This is because the hydrogen - bonding in ice forms a more open, hexagonal lattice structure compared to the more closely - packed structure of liquid water. According to the formula \(V=\frac{m}{
ho}\) (where \(V\) is volume, \(m\) is mass, and \(
ho\) is density), since the density of ice (\(
ho_{ice}\approx0.92\ g/cm^{3}\)) is less than the density of liquid water (\(
ho_{water}\approx1\ g/cm^{3}\)) and the mass \(m\) remains constant during the phase change (assuming no loss or gain of water molecules), the volume \(V\) must increase.

Answer:

It increases.