Why does ice float on water?
The reason why ice is lighter than water is that a certain mass of ice occupies more space than the same mass of water. This is related to hydrogen bonding. Hydrogen bonding A water molecule is composed of two hydrogen atoms (H) and one oxygen atom (O). The atoms of hydrogen and oxygen are bound by sharing their electrons with one another. This bond is called a covalent bond. However, since oxygen atoms pull electrons more strongly than hydrogen atoms, the oxygen atom in a water molecule has a slightly negative charge and the hydrogen atoms have a slightly positive charge. So adjacent water molecules are attracted to one another through the slightly negatively charged oxygen atoms and the slightly positively charged hydrogen atoms. This interaction is called hydrogen bonding. Hydrogen bonding is much weaker than covalent bonding, however, this type of bonding has a large total effect because there are so many hydrogen bonds. Structure of ice and water Ice has a diamond structure due to
