Since 90 percent of a floating ice cube is underwater, and water expands by 9 percent when frozen, doesn't this mean the water will only rise 1 percent when the ice cube melts?
by 
Anonymous
ANSWERS: 4
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... what about the other 90% under the water? when that melts (as well as the 10% on top) the water level rises
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Actually ice displaces water. Frozen water or "Ice" expands when it freezes, If it melts the water level goes down. If you've ever had a coke or a glass of ice water that was full and you forgot about it you will see that the water level in the glass drops when the ice melts.
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According to your info, when water freezes it occupies 1.09 times as much space. Therefore, when ice melts it occupies about 0.92 times as much space. When the ice melts, all of its volume will be part of the water in the container, and not just 90% of it. Therefore the portion of its volume in the water will be about 1.11 times as much. Therefore the volume of the melted ice that's in the water will be about 1.02 times as much as when it was frozen, so it should rise by a factor of 1.02 times the proportion of the volume of the ice cube to that of the contained water.
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"Water expands when it freezes, so you might think that when it melts and reduces in size, the water level will go down. Alternatively, because part of the ice floats the water, you might think that when it melts, the water level will rise. Neither is true, as explained by Archimedes principles. When an ice cube (or an iceberg, which is a big ice cube) floats in water, then by definition the weight of the ice cube is exactly equal to the buoyancy force, which is equal to the weight of the displaced water. When the ice cube melts, its volume changes, but its weight is conserved (law of the conservation of mass). So the melted water from the ice cube has exactly the same weight as the water that was displaced by the ice cube when it was frozen -- therefore the volume of melted water fits exactly in the previously displaced volume -- and the water level stays the same. Note that this argument applies only if the ice cube is made of the same water as the water that it is floating in." Source and further information: http://www.seed.slb.com/v2/FAQView.cfm?ID=1166
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