Final answer:
Freezing water that leads to strong osmotic pressures can break materials through frost heave or cell lysis, a result of expansion against constraints.
Step-by-step explanation:
When freezing water leads to strong osmotic pressures - greater than the strength of the building material - and the material literally breaks apart, the resulting damage is called frost heave or, in a biological context, cell lysis.
Large forces and pressures are created by materials when they expand against constraints. This phenomenon is observed when water freezes, since it expands instead of contracting like most materials. Thus, when water turns into ice, it can exert enough force to break rocks, damage biological cells, and crack engine blocks.
Similarly, the osmotic pressures, when excessive, can also rupture cells by causing water to flow into them in a hypotonic environment, leading to cell lysis. This is a critical reason for including expansion joints in construction or having mechanisms within living organisms to manage such pressure.