Why has ice got a much lower specific heat value than water?
Ice is less dense than water. When water freezes the organization of the water molecules into a crystalline patterns causes less efficient packing make ice less dense than water which is a unique property of water and is why ice floats. The loss of density directly effects the Molar mass of the water and therefore the specific heat. Water has extraordinary properties and one is its high specific heat. This is caused by hydrogen bonds being broken as the water is heated and absorbing a great deal of heat in the process. This heat is returned when water is cooled and the bonds form back. In ice you don’t get the breaking of bonds, you just get the ordinary thermal effects so it acts much more normally.
