Ice on Water

[mayhem_sci]

Not a physics person but I thought Ice is supposed to float on water? But it doesn't currently, it always sink, though not always to the bottom. Is that supposed to happen?

[Fujitsu]

Not a physics person but I thought Ice is supposed to float on water? But it doesn't currently, it always sink, though not always to the bottom. Is that supposed to happen?

This is because Ice is only barely less dense than water. If I recall correctly, only ~5% or so of an iceberg is actually out of the water.

[Mystery]

Water is 1kg/m squared, Ice is 0.9kg/m squared. It will float on top of water but not float up towards the top of the water.

[Joel]

Yupp, Archimedes principle all over. It should be something in the lines of 10% of the mass above the water line. See The tip of the iceberg

However, the liquid simulation in Algodoo is dependent on the size of the water particles, it is possible that this effects the simulation. You can always try with different sized ice objects and see how it works out.

[admin]

Yes, ice floats for sure, but as Joel explains only the tip of an iceberg is above the surface. See the new video at http://www.algodoo.com/

[Sonic]

Umm...what video?

[standardtoaster]

He's talking about when the teacher demonstrated floating ice in water.

[Sonic]

Oh that video! I haven't watched it, so I didn't know what he meant.