what makes ice cubes crack when you put them in drinks?

Answer 1

When things freeze, they expand. This includes water. When you put it in a glass of water it causes the cube's surface to warm much more quickly than the center. The rapid contraction causes stress on the cube and results in cracks since the pressure has nowhere to go in the center of the cube.

.... I think.

Answer 2

Ok, so when an ice cube goes in a liquid, the liquid has to be warmer than the cube. So the ice cube's cold core doesn't work with the warm liquid. The inside expands and the outside shrinks, then eventually the tension is too much and the cube cracks.

Answer 3

hey guys, generaly the liquids contract when solidifing, but water and a few other substances expand. Anyway, is the rapid temperature variation which generate high thermal gradients inside the ice cube which in turn lead to high thermal stresses which in turn, eventually, lead to cracking.
Think about that you put a less than 0 degrees Celsius ice cube in a room temperature liquid; in an instant the temperature on the surface changes to room temperature, but in the centre of the cube the temperature is the initial, so high gradient ...

Answer 4

It is the extreme,sudden change in the ice cubes surrounding medium,which cause the cube to fracture upon it points of least resistance....In a grander scale,this is how Half Dome of Yosemite was formed over millions of years,due to running water that creates cracks in the granite rock,freezing during the winter,which in turn makes the water expand,cracking solid rock,like miniature hydraulic,push apart veins,upon the rocks surface.Water truly is the universal solvent.........Tom Science

Answer 5

as you are aware, matter expands when heated and contracts when cooled, by dropping a cold ice cube in a warmer beverage rapid expansion occurs thus cracking the ice. PS water expands when it freezes otherwise it wouldnt float as ice. once a solid it expands and contracts according to the rules.

Answer 6

they are heating up and as they do they expand and that expansion creates pressure and hence the cube breaks. another reason is that water is biggest (by volume) around 39 degrees F. so it gets bigger until the stress is to great for it to handle

Answer 7

Rapid warming and expansion. The same principle as putting cold glass in hot water.

Answer 8

the water pressure

Answer 9

Peoples' teeth.

Answer 10

temperature change