[Hadrian (OP)]

What stops ice from sinking??

[neilep]

What stops ice from sinking??

ice floats because it is less dense than liquid water.

[neilep]

....in addition...some bizarre stuff happens to  water at 4 degrees C

[neilep]

..just sourced this !

" Water reaches its maximum density at 4°C (40°F). As it cools further and freezes into ice, it actually becomes less dense. On the other hand, most substances are most dense in their solid (frozen) state than in their liquid state. Water is different because of hydrogen bonding. "

[Karen W.]

OH, I always wondered that! That was a good question Hadrian! Nice answer thanks Neil!

[Soul Surfer]

Water is really a sort of polymer caused by hydrogen bonding and has very many extremely unusual properties it has many different crystal structures depending on the temeprtature and pressure that the crystals are formed.  It just so happens that the one we are familiar with occupies space slightly less efficiently than liquid water because it has a very open structure ans therefore ice floats on water

[JimBob]

What stops ice from sinking??

It is usually floating in whisky.

[Heliotrope]

Jack Daniel's preferably.

[]

[Heliotrope]

Anyone else want a drink while I'm at the bar ?
[]

[WylieE]

OK. . . So what temperature is ice?
I've heard 4 deg and 0 deg.
If I stick a thermometer in ice water it is 0deg,
but if I rest it on the ice it is 4, is this just because the thermometer is not completely surrounded by ice (some air gets in there and warms it up a bit)?
I'll have to try it with ice-whiskey and see what that temperature is . . .
Colleen

[ariel]

aren't hydrogen bonds wonderful!

[jolly]

deleted as inapproprate

[Hadrian (OP)]

you cant beet simple  LOL  [:0]

[lightarrow]

What stops ice from sinking??

Paradoxically, it's ...gravity!
In the absence of it, no floating.

[GBSB]

What stops ice from sinking??

Paradoxically, it's ...gravity!
In the absence of it, no floating.

It is gravity and buoyancy.

P. S.
I am not agreeing with one of greatest scientist of all time (Sir Isaac Newton) about existence of the force of buoyancy.

GBSB = (G – Gravity, B – Buoyancy, S - Strength, B – Balance)

[lightarrow]

What stops ice from sinking??

Paradoxically, it's ...gravity!
In the absence of it, no floating.

It is gravity and buoyancy.

Of course, however is gravity which generate buoyancy in the presence of a density difference.

[jolly]

deleted as inapproprate

[Hadrian (OP)]

water stops ice sinking.lol ice is heavier but like a snow mans shoe the weight is spead over its surface so ice stops itself sinking. If you turned a flat ice disc over. It may sink but generally it would still float because of the air trapped inside it, the bubbles would be like little internal 'balloons'. so looking at ices weight the ballons make it lighter. and water is heavier. back to the begining. 

We like to go around and around its good for the fitness      []

[ukmicky]

Ice floats because as it forms it becomes less dense than the water it formed from,. In other words its volume increases and takes up more space than the water it formed from.
 

[Hadrian (OP)]

Ice floats because as it forms it becomes less dense than the water it formed from,. In other words its volume increases and takes up more space than the water it formed from.
 

thank you mr M