system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Ice burns make no sense to me on a molecular level. Your skin cells are damaged because they came in contact with molecules that move too slowly?

you can damage your skin via conduction on too hot and too cold objects (-5°C - 54 °C). Now i can somewhat understand how fast moving molecules can damage cells, but what causes the skin cells to be damaged after being in contact with slowly moving molecules? Does the water in cells and blood freeze? If so what happens to the frozen cell when thawing?
gpt
Your cells are mostly water. When water freezes it forms ice crystals, which are big, and sharp. These crystals break the membrane of your cells so they rupture and die. It's exactly the same thing that makes food go limp and smooshy when frozen.