seeker@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu (Karen Lynn White) (04/09/88)
This is a serious question, no flames please.
Can somebody tell me exactly why ice cubes float? It seems I ought to know
but I don't.
--
Karen Lynn White "On a clear disk you can seek forever..."
Computer Science
Indiana University ARPA: seeker@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu
Bloomington, IN 47405 UUCP: {pyramid,ihnp4,pur-ee,rutgers}!iuvax!seekerpax@uiucdcsp.cs.uiuc.edu (04/10/88)
>/* Written 11:26 am Apr 8, 1988 by seeker@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu in uiucdcsp:sci.misc */ >/* ---------- "ice cubes" ---------- */ >This is a serious question, no flames please. > >Can somebody tell me exactly why ice cubes float? It seems I ought to know >but I don't. >-- >Karen Lynn White "On a clear disk you can seek forever..." >Computer Science >Indiana University ARPA: seeker@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu >Bloomington, IN 47405 UUCP: {pyramid,ihnp4,pur-ee,rutgers}!iuvax!seeker >/* End of text from uiucdcsp:sci.misc */ Is this some kind of test?
chris@mimsy.UUCP (Chris Torek) (04/11/88)
In article <7549@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu> seeker@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu (Karen Lynn White) writes: >Can somebody tell me exactly why ice cubes float? Easy: they are less dense than water. Okay, why are they less dense than water? The answer lies in something called `hydrogen bonding'. There is a weak attraction between the hydrogen atoms in one water molecule and the oxygen atom in another. This force is too weak to have much effect on water, especially above 3 or 4 degrees C, but below that temperature, and most of all in ice, it tends to arrange the molecules into tetrahedral patterns. These take more space than the random arrangements, which makes the ice less dense than the water. Molecular biologists can tell you more about how hydrogen bonding is important to life-as-we-know-it. Apparently it is part of the reason DNA works. `Gosh Mr. Science, you mean we're alive because ice floats?' `That's right kids! Isn't science amazing?' :-) -- In-Real-Life: Chris Torek, Univ of MD Comp Sci Dept (+1 301 454 7163) Domain: chris@mimsy.umd.edu Path: uunet!mimsy!chris
hal@pur-phy (Hal Chambers) (04/11/88)
In article <7549@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu> seeker@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu (Karen Lynn White) writes: >This is a serious question, no flames please. >Can somebody tell me exactly why ice cubes float? It seems I ought to know >but I don't. Water at 0 C is denser than ice at 0 C (i.e. water expands about 4% when it freezes). So, an ice cube floats for the same reason a piece of wood does. As I (hopefully, correctly) recall water reaches its maximum density at about 4 C. Hal Chambers
agranok@udenva.cair.du.edu (Alex B. Granok) (04/13/88)
In article <7549@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu> seeker@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu (Karen Lynn White) writes: >This is a serious question, no flames please. > >Can somebody tell me exactly why ice cubes float? It seems I ought to know >but I don't. It is like this: Water is one of nature's most intriguing substances in that it becomes less dense when it freezes. The reason for this is the extensive hydrogen bonding in water. At low temperatures (like when it freezes), the hydrogen bonds form a complex, ordered network that holds the water molecules in a tetrahedral (I think) lattice. As the ice heats up and the molecules vibrate more, the latticebreaks down and the water basically "collapses" on itself, causing an increase in density. Ice floats because it is less dense than liquid water. -- Alexander B. Granok "I love school... ncar(hao)!udenva!agranok it's the work I hate."
tom@utah-cs.UUCP (Tom Blockovich) (04/14/88)
Everyone seems to agree that ice is less dense than water..ie it expands as it
freezes. Archimedes concluded that an object is bouyed up by a force equal to
the weight of the water it displaces. Since an ice cube now displaces more
water than it weighs, it floats. That's Archimedes principle.
Tom Blockovich
at Digital Equip. Corp. slovax::Blockovich
or (801)268-3392
at UofU tom@cs.utah.edu
or (801)581-5805