science
Water is unusual among common substances because its solid form is less dense than its liquid form.
Ice floats because it is less dense than liquid water, caused by how water molecules arrange when frozen. They lock into a hexagonal crystal lattice taking up more space than the same molecules jostling freely as liquid, making ice roughly 9% less dense.
Ice does not sink, and it does not share identical density with water, most substances become denser when solid, which is exactly why water's behavior is unusual among common substances.
This quirk is ecologically crucial, floating ice sheets insulate water below in winter, letting fish survive under the ice instead of the whole body freezing solid from the bottom up.
science
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