why does ice float in water?

Question

Tonight i was eating at the Melting Pot.Then i realized that ice was floating in my glass.I asked my mom, and she didn't know.But why does it float,it's made of water just like the water in my glass.So here i am asking the question.

Answer 1

Like most things that float, ice floats because it is less dense than liquid water. Ice is about 9% less dense. When ice forms, it takes up about 9% more space than it did as a liquid. Thus, a 1 liter container of ice weighs less than a 1 liter container of liquid water, and the lighter material floats to the top.

Answer 2

All materials change density when they go from the liquid to the solid state. For most materials, freezing results in an increase in density, so that the solid sinks in the liquid. This is because freezing involves crystallization, and in most materials the orderly arrangement of the molecules in a crystalline solid means nice, tight packing and thus an increase in density over the more chaotic liquid. But the water molecule has a queer shape that makes it impossible to pack efficiently in a crystal structure. Ice is a rather loose (though orderly) packing and the density is less than that of liquid water. Thus ice floats on water. It's a good thing it does. Otherwise, lakes would freeze solid in winter and fish would have a very "hard" time. There are a few other such "icelike" materials. The best known are the metals bismuth and antimony. They are used in precision casting, since the expansion on freezing forces the material into the tiniest nooks and crannies and corners of the mold.

Answer 3

While it's made of water, the transition from liquid to solid (freezing) causes it to expand in size slightly. Therefore, the same amount of water occupies a larger volume. This translates to a lower density, therfore, since the solid is less dense than the liquid, it floats. It's about 9/10 as dense as water, so that's why only about 10% of the ice sticks out of the water as it's floating. Multiply this by about a bazillion times in scale, and you have an iceberg. It's really just a ginormous ice cube floationg in the ocean. So, if you look at your ice cube in the water and see how much of the total ice cube is below the surface and how much sticks out, realize that the same proportion applies to that iceberg.

Answer 4

Ice has a lower density than water. Anything with a higher density floats on anything of a higher density. Water expands when it freezes. So its mass is the same but it's more "spread out" so it floats.

Answer 5

greetings...beings that ice is water in its solid form has nothing to do with why it floats. it floats because it's mass, weight, and shape don't exceed waters law of physics. for example; one or two ice cubes individually in water will float. even if there were holes in them. but take 5lb bag of ice and put it in water and it will eventually sink. good luck

Answer 6

Water is one of the very few substances that becomes less dense when it solidifies. Most other things don't. Hence, ice floats.

Answer 7

because of the differences in the masses, think of it as layers- water will always travel through anything and lay on the bottom, ice floats because of the way the molecules change inside it when its mass changes to a solid, and if you were boil it, the wator vapor will rise up and join the air.

Answer 8

because as the molecules freeze, the ice cube becomes less dense then the water

Answer 9

When ice is frozen it is lighter and will float because it's mass has changed - it's not a liquid, it's a solid until it melts.

Answer 10

The mass is changed when ice freezes, making it less dense than water.