I've noticed that ice cubes flip over in water and tried to find out why but i can't put my finger on it. Can you help me?
2007-05-10 19:08:35 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Earth Sciences & Geology
Nobody above is correct.
Ice is never "top heavy" in water due to its physical property (density) and it melts from the top since that is the area exposed to the warmer temperature of air (assuming your beverage is not hotter than the air, which is usually the case).
Ice is less dense than water, which is why they float in the first place. You will notice that if you have a non-spherical ice structure, the bigger "half" will be on top, trying to reach the surface. This is because it is the larger "half" of ice, therefore has more of the lesser dense substance. So the bigger part of the ice cube will float higher than the smaller part.
Try it out. Ice flips only in the first few seconds due to the less dense property of ice to water. And the bigger side of the ice cube will always be trying to reach the top.
2007-05-10 19:42:42 · answer #1 · answered by Carl D 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Ice cubes melt faster at the bottom. Eventually this makes them top-heavy, and they flip over to restore equilibrium.
2007-05-10 19:13:37 · answer #2 · answered by Helmut 7 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Ice cubes aren't very good swimmers but they can float on their backs real good.
2007-05-10 19:18:19 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋