Why Does Ice Melt?

What You'll Learn

• Ice is water in its solid form — the molecules are locked in place
• Heat gives the molecules energy to move around, breaking the solid structure
• When ice absorbs heat, it turns into liquid water
• Melting point of water is 32F (0C) — at this temperature, solid becomes liquid
• The same water molecules are in ice and liquid water — just arranged differently

Words to Know

Melt

When a solid turns into a liquid

"The ice cube melts in the sun."

Molecule

Tiny building blocks everything is made of

"Water molecules are in ice and water."

Temperature

How hot or cold something is

"Ice melts at 32 degrees."

Solid

Something that keeps its shape

"Ice is a solid; water is a liquid."

Check What You Learned

Fun Facts

• Ice is water in solid state; molecules in rigid crystalline lattice

  Source: American Chemical Society

• Heat transfers energy to molecules, breaking intermolecular bonds

  Source: Chemistry LibreTexts

• Melting point of water: 32F (0C) at standard pressure

  Source: NIST

• During melting, ice absorbs heat without temperature change — "latent heat of fusion" — 334 J/g

  Source: Physics textbooks

• Water molecules are the same in ice and liquid — only arrangement differs

  Source: ACS

• In ice, molecules vibrate in fixed positions; in liquid, they slide past each other

  Source: J. Chemical Physics