Submitted by schematicboy t3_10qtvtb in askscience
SynbiosVyse t1_j6wm4fg wrote
Reply to comment by AnnaLouise295 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
You're correct, significant kinetic energy is present in the liquid form and lost during the transition, some of that is converted to potential energy by way of the 9% decrease in the density of the ice compared to liquid water.
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