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SynbiosVyse t1_j6wlq5e wrote

Reply to comment by pblack476 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

Because water is really weird! It's unusual for a compound to expand in volume as it goes from liquid to solid. Water freezing is an exothermic process: heat must be given off. While there is net loss, the amount of kinetic energy that water needed in it's liquid, kinetic form is still less than the energy needed that was converted into potential energy with the raising of the ice.

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