1. explain how an ice cube left out on a counter becomes a small puddle of water.

When you take ice cubes out of the freezer, the melting process begins right away because the air temperature around the ice cubes is warmer than the temperature in the freezer. Water freezes at zero degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit). The solid ice particles absorb heat energy from the warmer air, giving the particles energy and enabling them to move away from one another. Liquid particles still touch each other, but they are further apart than solid particles. They slide past each other and don't have a regular shape like solids do. This is what happens when the ice cube (a solid) turns into water (a liquid).