Many a student who goes to college complains, “Why do I have to study physics and science, I’ll never use these things.” Of course, such people are quite wrong about “not using” physics and science. The fact is that whether we know it or not, we all use the laws of physics in everyday life many, many times.

Any person who lives in a climate where it gets cold in winter, knows that he must put anti-freeze in the radiator of his car, and close off and empty any pipes that might have water in them. He knows that if he doesn’t, the radiator will crack and the pipes might burst. The laws of physics explain why such things happen.

For example, when most substances change from a liquid to a solid state, they shrink. But exactly the opposite happens with water! Instead of shrinking, it expands. And it doesn’t expand by just any amount; it expands by about one ninth of its volume.

This means that if you start with nine litres of water and this water freezes, you’ll have 10 litres of solid ice! Well, now just picture the water in an automobile radiator, or a pipe, freezing up. Ten quarts of ice need more room than nine quarts of water. But radiator pipes and water pipes can’t stretch. There just isn’t any more room. So when the water freezes, it makes more room for itself by cracking the pipes.

One of the amazing things about this process of nature, is the tremendous power it has. Pipes are made of pretty strong metals, as you know. In places like Finland, this power is actually put to work.

This is how they do it. In the quarries, they fill the cracks in the rock with water and allow it to freeze. The freezing water acts as a wedge and loosens the rock so that great blocks of rock are broken loose by the freezing power!

Even though ice takes up more space than water, it is lighter than water and floats upon it. This is the reason why large bodies of water never freeze solid. The sheet of ice on top protects the water beneath.