• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
ask Dr Zag

ask Dr Zag

Questions & Facts

  • Local questions
  • Topics
  • Ask
  • Reset location
  • Set location

Why does water have maximum density at 4°C?

Last updated January 5, 2020 by ZagBot Comment

Most liquids contract when cooled, getting denser until they freeze into a solid. Their moving molecules lose kinetic energy, slowing them down, so they become prone to the attractive forces of nearby molecules drawing them closer together. Water exhibits this normal behavior down to 4 degrees Celsius (or 39.2 degrees Fahrenheit) where its density reaches a peak, but cooling actually sees it start to expand again. From 4°C, whether you cool or heat it, water expands.

This anomalous behavior occurs because as water molecules come closer together with cooling, they are increasingly inclined to form hydrogen bonds between the oxygen atom of one molecule and the hydrogen atom of a neighboring molecule. This starts to form structured hydrogen-bonded clusters of water molecules which actually begins to increase the distance between them, reversing the increasing density trend observed up to that point. Further cooling to freezing ultimately forms an orderly crystalline lattice of solid ice which is actually less dense than its liquid water state.

4°C is the point above which the normal effects of thermal kinetic expansion prevail over water’s tendency to form hydrogen bonds.

Leave a Review Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Select a rating

Primary Sidebar

Topic Categories

  • Abbotsford
  • Ahmedabad
  • Akron
  • Albany
  • Alcobendas
  • Amersham
  • Amsterdam
  • Anaheim
  • Andover
  • Ann Arbor
  • Annapolis
  • Ardmore
  • Arlington
  • Aspen
  • Atlanta
  • Auburn
  • Auckland
  • Augusta
  • Austin
  • Avon
  • Bala
  • Baltimore
  • Banff
  • Bangor
  • Barcelona
  • Beacon
  • Beaumaris
  • Beaverton
  • Bellingham
  • Berkeley
  • Big Sur
  • Binghamton
  • Blanchardstown
  • Bodø
  • Boise
  • Boston
  • Boulder
  • Boulder City
  • Bratislava
  • Brentwood Bay
  • Bridgeport
  • Brighton
  • Buenos Aires
  • Buffalo
  • Buñol
  • Caernarfon
  • Calabasas
  • Calgary
  • Cambridge
  • Camrose
  • Canmore
  • Cañon City
  • Carson
  • Carson City
  • Cascade
  • Chantilly
  • Charlotte
  • Chester
  • Cheyenne
  • Chicago
  • Chico
  • Cincinnati
  • Clear Lake
  • Clemson
  • Coeur d'Alene
  • Coffin Bay
  • Colma
  • Cook County
  • Corby
  • Cortlandt
  • Cranberry Township
  • Crystal River
  • Custer
  • Dallas
  • Daly City
  • Daytona Beach
  • Deeside
  • Deming
  • Denton
  • Denver
  • Des Moines
  • Detroit
  • Dibrugarh
  • Dirk Hartog Island
  • Dobbs Ferry
  • Doune
  • Downpatrick
  • Dubai
  • Dudley
  • Durham
  • East Rutherford
  • Edmonton
  • Eindhoven
  • Ellesmere Port
  • Elmhurst
  • Elmont
  • Emeryville
  • Eugene
  • Evanston
  • Fairfield
  • Falmouth
  • Fernie
  • Fiumicino
  • Florence
  • Forney
  • Fort Collins
  • Foster City
  • Fox Island
  • Fremont
  • Frisco
  • Furry Creek
  • Gablenz
  • Gateshead
  • Gatlinburg
  • Ghent
  • Glendale
  • Gold Coast
  • Gqeberha
  • Grand Prairie
  • Granollers
  • Halifax
  • Hamilton
  • Hanksville
  • Harrington Park
  • Hawthorne
  • Helsinki
  • Hillsborough
  • Hoboken
  • Holyhead
  • Hounslow
  • Houston
  • Humboldt
  • Hunter
  • Huntington Beach
  • Indianapolis
  • Inglewood
  • Interior
  • Ithaca
  • Jasper
  • Jerez de la Frontera
  • Jersey City
  • Kalamazoo
  • Kamloops
  • Kennebunk
  • Key West
  • Keystone
  • Kinloch
  • Lake Havasu City
  • Lake Louise
  • Lanark
  • Las Vegas
  • Leavenworth
  • Leeds
  • Lexington
  • Little Current
  • Littleton
  • Liverpool
  • Llandudno
  • Llanfairpwllgwyngyll
  • Lockerbie
  • Logan Lake
  • Lompoc
  • London
  • Lone Pine
  • Lonoke
  • Los Altos
  • Los Angeles
  • Los Olivos
  • Macclesfield
  • Mackinac Island
  • Mackinaw City
  • Maidstone
  • Mainz
  • Manchester
  • Manhattan Beach
  • Marshall
  • Maryland Heights
  • Marysville
  • Matsue
  • Melbourne
  • Memphis
  • Menai Bridge
  • Mendocino
  • Menlo Park
  • Miami
  • Miami Gardens
  • Mill Valley
  • Millbrae
  • Milwaukee
  • Minneapolis
  • Mississauga
  • Mobridge
  • Monaco
  • Moneta
  • Montauk
  • Monterey
  • Montgomery
  • Montreal
  • Morrisville
  • Morro Bay
  • Mountain View
  • Muir Beach
  • Munich
  • Myrtle Beach
  • Nantucket
  • New London
  • New Orleans
  • New Rochelle
  • New Westminster
  • New York
  • Newark
  • Nice
  • Nipigon
  • Nitra
  • Norfolk
  • North Salem
  • North Vancouver
  • Nutley
  • Oakham
  • Oakland
  • Ocean City
  • Old Westbury
  • Olympia
  • Opelika
  • Orlando
  • Oroville
  • Ottawa
  • Palmdale
  • Palo Alto
  • Paris
  • Paxton
  • Peekskill
  • Pensacola
  • Perth
  • Petaluma
  • Philadelphia
  • Pike Road
  • Piru
  • Pittsburgh
  • Pollença
  • Port Angeles
  • Port de Pollença
  • Port Renfrew
  • Portland
  • Pozuelo de Alarcón
  • Pretoria
  • Providence
  • Raleigh
  • Rapid City
  • Red Deer
  • Renton
  • Revelstoke
  • Rhyl
  • Richmond
  • Rockland
  • Rome
  • Ronkonkoma
  • Roslyn
  • Sacramento
  • Saint George
  • Saint Louis
  • Saint Paul
  • San Bruno
  • San Carlos
  • San Clemente
  • San Diego
  • San Francisco
  • San Jose
  • San Luis Obispo
  • San Mateo
  • San Quentin
  • Sanford
  • Sanibel
  • Santa Clara
  • Santa Clarita
  • Santiago de Chile
  • Saugerties
  • Sausalito
  • Seattle
  • Secaucus
  • Seville
  • Shandon
  • Sherwood
  • Snoqualmie
  • South San Francisco
  • Southampton
  • Southlake
  • Sparks
  • Spokane
  • Stanford
  • Sterling
  • Stinson Beach
  • Stockholm
  • Stockport
  • Stowe
  • Surrey
  • Swords
  • Sydney
  • Syracuse
  • Tacloban
  • Tacoma
  • Tallahassee
  • Talybont
  • Tampa
  • Täsch
  • Teruel
  • Thousand Oaks
  • Tiburon
  • Topsail Beach
  • Toronto
  • Troy
  • Truckee
  • Tucson
  • Turin
  • Ty Croes
  • University Place
  • Vacaville
  • Vail
  • Valladolid
  • Vance
  • Vancouver
  • Venice
  • Victoria
  • View Royal
  • Waco
  • Walnut Creek
  • Warrington
  • Washington, DC
  • Waukegan
  • Wembley
  • Wertheim
  • Westminster
  • Whistler
  • White Plains
  • Winnetka
  • Winnipeg
  • Winterset
  • Woodside
  • Yale
  • Yonkers
  • Youngstown
  • Yountville

Footer

About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • FAQ
FAQ
  • Login
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy policy
  • Community guidelines

Copyright © 2023 Petryal

  • Terms and Conditions
Change Location
Find awesome listings near you!