Changes of State

- Freezing

The warmer water in the tray loses heat to the colder air in the freezer. The water cools until its particles no longer have enough energy to slide past each other. Instead, they remain in fixed positions, locked in place by the forces of attraction between them. The liquid water has changed to solid ice. Another example of liquid water changing to solid ice is pictured in Figure below.

Water dripping from a gutter turned to ice as it fell toward the ground, forming icicles. Why did the liquid water change to a solid?

The process in which a liquid changes to a solid is called freezing. The temperature at which a liquid changes to a solid is its freezing point. The freezing point of water is 0°C (32°F). Other types of matter may have higher or lower freezing points. For example, the freezing point of iron is 1535°C. The freezing point of oxygen is -219°C.