Obviously I know ice is just solid water but would ice be heavier than the same volume of water if you account for the expansion of water as it freezes?

I’m only curious because I know that as water freezes it traps air molecules inside its crystalline structure so I was wondering if it trapped enough to cause a distinguishable difference in weight between the two states.

  • Jeeve65@ttrpg.network
    41·
    3 days ago

    Good question. So, perform an experiment: put an ice cube without air bubbles in a glass containing a mixture of ice and cold water. The temperature should become 0°C (just before it freezes), measure it.

    Your hypothesis: ice is heavier than water, so it will sink

    Execute the test several times, preferably 10 times or more. More is better.

    Please share your experiment results. Interesting data to know for each test would include:

    • sequence number of the test
    • temperature of the mixture before and after you put the ice cube in
    • method of ice cube creation
    • volume of the ice cube
    • volume of water/ice mixture
    • depth of the water/ice mixture (should be > size of the ice cube)
    • type of water used (tap, bottled, …)
    • did the ice cube sink
    • if no, what volume of the cube remained above the surface level

    please also share your conclusion.