If the water on the surface of a lake is just going to freeze, then what will be the temperature of water at the bottom?
The correct answer is 4°C.
- Freezing of Water:
- As water freezes, cold water (or ice formed) comes on the surface and warm water goes down.
- Since the freezing temperature of the water is 0ºC or 273 K.
- So water at the bottom should be at a higher temperature.
- Water density at 4ºC is more than the density of water at 0ºC, hence the correct option is 4ºC.
Key Points
- Reason of low temperature at bottom of the top layer:
- This is due to the process of convection.
- When the temperature of the water at the top layer reaches the freezing point, it is converted to ice.
- But ice is lighter than water, so it will not sink to the bottom.
- So there will be ice on the top surface and water would remain at the bottom of the lake.


