Physical Properties
Ice Ih has a density less than liquid water, of 0.917 g/cm³, due to the extremely low density of its crystal lattice. The density of ice Ih increases with decreasing temperature (density of ice at -180 °C is 0.9340 g/cm³), but remains below that of liquid water.
The latent heat of melting is 5987 J/mol, and its latent heat of sublimation is 50911 J/mol. The high latent heat of sublimation is principally indicative of the strength of the hydrogen bonds in the crystal lattice. The latent heat of melting is much smaller partly because liquid water near 0 °C is very strongly H-bonded already.
The refractive index of ice Ih is 1.31.
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