A glass bottle completely filled with water and tightly closed at room temperature, is likely to burst when kept in the freezer of a refrigerator. Explain why?

It is due to anomalous expansion or strange behaviour of water.

Mostly substance contract when cooled (on decreasing the temperature), but water shows an unsual behaviour of expanding while it turns into solid. The expansion of water takes place as it is cooled from 4°C ⇒ 0°.

Due to this behaviour, the glass water bottle is likely to burst when kept in fridge.

Additional information:

• Anomalous expansion of water is an abnormal property of water whereby it expands instead of contracting when the temperature goes from 4°C to 0°C, and it becomes less dense. Normally, liquids contract on cooling & the density increases. However, water is special. It contracts when cooled, down to a temperature of 4°C but thereafter begins to expand as it reaches 0°C and turns into ice.