Scientists from the University of Vienna in Austria and Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany, set about to calculate exactly why ice is less dense than water, but might have also set a new first for molecular dynamics along the way, according to Chemistry World.
A publication of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the magazine notes that Tobias Morawietz and colleagues at the two institutions are possibly the first to calculate ice’s melting point using fundamental quantum mechanics.
While the type of modeling they used holds promise, the magazine talked to UT materials science and engineering professor David Keffer about potential issues that might arise through their methods.
“Often, individuals interested in questions that can only be resolved with finer resolution question coarser techniques,” Keffer said.
The full article can be seen at Chemistry World