Ice - Good and Bad

The ScaysTech Newsletter Podcast · Jul 21, 2026 · 4m

Ice

#Ice#Ice-Damage#Freeze-Thaw#Spalding#Rain-Bounce#Ice-Hotel#River-Ice

If there is one phenomena that confuses so many students, it’s the transformation of water into ice, and it’s one of the most destructive forces there is. Water, when frozen, expands by roughly 9% in volume when it transitions from liquid to ice.

That 9% volume increase is an absolute powerhouse of physics. When water gets trapped inside a porous material like a traditional clay brick and freezes, that expansion generates immense internal pressure—often exceeding 100{ MPa} or 14,500{ psi), which easily surpasses the…