Question

You fill a glass with room temperature water from the sink and then place it in the freezer. After a few hours, you take the glass out and the water is now a solid. In two to three sentences explain what happened to the water in the glass as the temperature decreased. Key words to include for full points: kinetic energy, thermal energy, temperature, and heat.

Answer 1

As the glass of water was placed in the freezer, the temperature of the water decreased, causing its thermal energy to drop. The decrease in temperature resulted in a reduction of the water molecules' kinetic energy, which slowed their movement. Eventually, as the temperature continued to fall, the water froze into a solid as the molecules reached a state where they were tightly bound in a structured arrangement.