Be it a huge fleet of ice floating in the Arctic sea or cubes in a cocktail, why don’t they sink? They weigh a lot, then why do they keep floating? The same question was asked on the social media platform Quora. When we tried to find the answer to this, some things came to light that would surprise us.
According to the report of Live Science, Professor Brent Minchew of Massachusetts Institute of Technology explained the reason for this. He said, the inability to sink in ice water is related to the density of water. Ice is the solid state of water. It floats because it is less dense than its liquid form. That means its density is less. In contrast, most other substances condense into solid states.
Because of this, huge floating icebergs
NASA climatologist Claire Parkinson said, ice cubes float because of their molecular structure. A molecule of water (H2O) is made up of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. Hydrogen and oxygen atoms share electrons, with which they are bonded. The positive charge of hydrogen is attracted to the negative oxygen atom. The bond formed between these molecules is known as hydrogen bond. When water freezes, these hydrogen bonds form a crystal lattice. There is a lot of empty space within this mesh which is filled with air, which reduces the density of the ice. This is why icebergs float in the ocean. Even if they are about 100 to 165 feet thick.
If the ice sinks…
Floating ice allows life to flourish beneath the frozen surface of lakes and oceans. If the ice had sunk, it would have caused a lot of trouble for the creatures living under water. According to NASA, as sea ice freezes, salt comes out of it. Due to this the water under the ice becomes extremely salty and dense. This dense water created by sea ice sinks to the bottom of the ocean and pushes deeper water to the surface.
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Tags: amazing news, Bizarre news, OMG News
FIRST PUBLISHED: March 14, 2024, 17:10 IST
