Use ice's structure to explain how the freeze-thaw cycle causes potholes?

Question

help me please

Answer 1

Ice is a crystaline structure which takes about 10% more space than equivalent water. So water can flow into a crack in the street and when it freezes, push the sides of the crack aside or crumble the material, making more space for water that expands more to make more cracks, etc.

Answer 2

It isn't so much the structure as it is the density difference between ice and water which is a function of structure. Ice is lighter than water. This is believed due to the "lining up" of polar parts of the water molecule in an extended structure in ice. When water, freezes, the ice volume causes any weak point in pavement to become a point of failure due to expansion. When this is repeated, the extent of failure continues to increase.

Answer 3

Rain or melted snow or ice seeps into cracks in the pavement. When the water freezes, it's crystalline structure causes it to expand, buckling the pavement upward. When it melts again, the water runs off, and the buckled pavement collapses into the hole left behind.