When you have a cup with ice cubes in it and you leave it sitting there for a while, the ice cubes all sort of meld into one big ice cube. Why? How is it warm enough for the ice to melt, but then cold enough for it to re-freeze?
In: Chemistry
My answer to this would be: the outside of the pile of ice is getting warmer and melting Because it is exposed to warm air. The melted water drips down to the unexposed middle of the pile where it is still cold and at freezing temperature. Then it freezes again and sticks the cubes together.
Ice melts because of the heat of the surrounding area. Obviously the outside is what melts first because is exposed to that heat. The molecules turn from solid to liquid but then the heat from them (since the are now surrounding the ice cubes) is absorbed by the cold ice. That forms a repeating pattern that is imperfect. The balance cannot be achieved instantly. The result is that some of the liquid water turns back into ice but since it is between the surfaces of the ice cubes it makes them one solid object. This point is also usually weaker.
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