Naked Science Forum

Non Life Sciences => Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology => Topic started by: thedoc on 13/04/2014 00:30:01

Title: Why does my drink level stay the same when the ice melts?
Post by: thedoc on 13/04/2014 00:30:01

Gordana Milenko <> asked the Naked Scientists:
   
Whenever I put ice cubes in a glass of water, the water level does not change, and not even when they melt. Why is that, considering that ice cubes are water?

I enjoy very much listening to you (http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/podcasts/).

Thank you
Gordana  

     
What do you think?

Title: Re: Why does my drink level stay the same when the ice melts?
Post by: CliffordK on 12/04/2014 20:11:33

An ice cube floating on the top of water works on the principle of displacement. 

Say you have a 10 gram ice cube.  To float, it will displace 10 grams of water, or about 10cc of water depending on the exact temperature and density of the water, with the remainder of the ice cube being above the water.

Now, once the ice cube melts, it will create 10 grams of water (about 10cc), and will occupy the exact amount of volume that it had previously displaced (ignoring density changes of the water).

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