XIV. Experiments and Observations upon the Contraction of Water by Heat at Low Temperatures

Abstract

To the general law, that bodies are expanded by heat, and contracted by cold, water at the point of congelation, and for some degrees of temperature above it, seems to afford a very singular and curious exception.The circumstances of this remarkable anomaly have been for some time believed to be the following:When heat is applied to water ice cold, or at a temperature not far distant, it causes a diminution in the bulk of the fluid. The water contracts, and continues to contract, with the augmentation of temperature, till it reaches the 40th or 41st degree. Between this point and the 42d or 43d, it suffers scarcely any perceptible change; but when heated beyond the last-mentioned degree, it begins to expand, and increases in volume with every subsequent rise of temperature.