World 1 · States of Matter · 6 minFreezing and order
Cooling a liquid into a crystal
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Cooling takes energy out. Slower atoms can no longer escape the pull of their neighbours, so they settle into the arrangement with the lowest energy: for these atoms, a close-packed crystal whose interior atoms have 12 nearest neighbours. Atoms on the surface have fewer neighbours.
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Why does a small droplet often stay liquid a little below its freezing point?
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