text: my kid needs your help? what happens when water is changed is changed to ice cubes....i say mollacules get closer ..she sayes partales get closer help okay, under normal conditions things contract (get smaller) when cooled and molecular motion slows down. water is an exception because of the behavior of of its molecules as they form ice crystals. the fully formed ice crystals take up more space than the liquid mloecules that originally formed them. this is why water expands as it freezes.