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p1mrx t1_j6vs4an wrote

Reply to comment by News_of_Entwives in Suppose I have a container of water with a ball floating on top of it. I put it outside overnight and the water freezes. Since the water's volume increases as it freezes, the ball is raised. Where does the increased gravitational potential energy come from? by schematicboy

So that thermal energy "came from" the liquid water, and the water was liquid in the first place due to energy from the sun.

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earanhart t1_j6wesh6 wrote

Maybe not the Sun itself, any source of energy would work (some chemical reaction such as fire, nuclear, even mechanical energy from stirring the water would convert to some thermal energy), but yes. It was already in the water when the ball was floating.

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