What happens to particles in a liquid as it cools down to the freezing point?

As a liquid cools down to its freezing point, the particles lose energy. This loss of energy causes them to move less vigorously. As the movement decreases, the attractive forces between the particles become more significant, allowing them to come closer together and form bonds. This process leads to the formation of a solid structure as the particles arrange into a fixed, orderly pattern characteristic of solids.

In contrast, the other choices do not accurately describe the behavior of particles in a liquid as it transitions to a solid state. Particles gaining energy and escaping would describe vaporization, while dissolving completely suggests a process of solvation, not freezing. The idea of particles becoming gaseous is characteristic of boiling or evaporation, which occurs at a much higher energy state than freezing.