Water in lakes and ponds do not freeze at once in cold countries. Give a reason in support of your answer.

Explanation

**Step-by-Step Solution:**

1. **Understanding Freezing:** Water freezes when it loses heat energy. In cold countries, temperatures can drop significantly, but water in lakes and ponds does not freeze immediately.

2. **Latent Heat of Fusion:** The reason for this phenomenon is related to the concept of latent heat. The latent heat of fusion is the amount of heat energy required to change a substance from a liquid to a solid at its melting/freezing point without changing its temperature.

3. **Specific Latent Heat of Ice:** For water, the specific latent heat of fusion is approximately 336 Joules per gram (J/g). This means that to freeze 1 gram of water into ice, 336 J of energy must be removed from it.

...