Scientists created a weird new type of ice that is almost exactly as dense as water

By Stephanie Pappas published 3 days ago

Researchers have created a never-before-seen form of ice with a disorganized structure and a density almost exactly that of liquid water.



Part of the experimental setup for making medium-density amorphous ice. (Image credit: Alexander Rosu-Finsen, Christoph Salzmann)


Using ultracold temperatures and some steel ball bearings, scientists have created a brand-new, bizarre form of ice that has the same density of liquid water.

Grinding ice
When ice freezes normally on Earth, its molecules stack into an organized crystalline structure. This crystalline ice is one of the weird quirks of H2O, because it floats on liquid water in its solid state rather than sinking. This is due to the relatively big gaps in the crystal structure of water ice, compared with other materials that form denser structures when they crystallize.

The ice, known as medium-density amorphous ice, fits into a gap in the annals of frozen water that scientists weren't sure would ever be filled. Unlike the crystalline ice that forms naturally on Earth, the newly created ice doesn't have an organized molecular structure. Instead, its molecules are in a chaotic mismatch, more like glass — a state known as amorphous. Other types of amorphous ice have been made before, but they've been either much less dense or far denser than liquid water. This new Goldilocks version of amorphous ice is right in the middle, almost exactly matching liquid water's density, researchers explained in a new study published in the journal Science today (Feb. 2).

"It's something completely new," said study senior author Christoph Salzmann(opens in new tab), a professor of physical and materials chemistry at University College London.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/new-medium-density-amorphous-ice