This class provides an overview of the physical properties of ice and how they are related through the structure of the water molecules and their arrangement in ice. The following topics will be covered, and related where appropriate to topics of current research interest at UW.

Structure of the water molecule; hydrogen bonds

Equilibrium thermodynamics: Phase diagram for ice, crystal structure of ordinary ice

 

Other phases of ice (high pressure, low temperature) and their occurrence in the Solar System

Formation of ice from the vapor and from the liquid.

Optical properties of ice in ultraviolet, visible, infrared

Elastic and thermal properties, lattice vibrations

Surface effects and polycrystallinity:

The ice-vapor interface

Grain boundaries, veins and nodes

Defects and dislocations, and their effects:

Crystal growth from vapor and from liquid

Habit evolution

Electrical properties

Students will be assigned homework, a take-home midterm exam, and a term paper.

There is no required textbook. Several reference books will be made available:

Petrenko and Whitworth: Ice Physics

Fletcher: The chemical Physics of Ice

Hobbs: Ice Physics

Eisenberg and Kauzmann: The Structure and Properties of Water