Why a glass of never overflows when ice cubes melts?!
Why a glass of never overflows when ice cubes melts?
Answers:
the weight of the ice cube pushes the volume of the water to the highest level of the glass...when the ice melts, water replaces the volume of the ice lost, so the level stays the same.
It's called displacement and I'm not smart enough to explain it properly but the idea is that the solid ice is equal in volume to the ice when it has melted.
The volume of water never changes. Thats why ice cubes float in the liquid they are in. You will always have the same amount of water whether it is in liquid or solid form.
It would only overflow if the mass of ice has a smaller volume than the same mass of water. I don't think that's the case?
The extra water added by the cubes is already accounted for (or included in the total contents) when you fill your glass up and add the cubes. So when they melt, it's just a change of form.
Anything floating is a liquid will displace its weight of that liquid. Since ice is less dense (it floats) as it melts, it takes up less volume. The melted water will fill the space it displaces, therefor not changing the water's level.
because it does not have so much as the glaciers
You're thinking of it as adding water, but remember, you're losing ice.
Water expands (crystalizes) when it freezes, so ice cubes are always bigger than the water they were made with.
So when a glass filled with ice has the ice melt, the volume actually goes DOWN, not up, since the water becomes more dense than the ice cube and takes up less space than the cube did.
the quantity will be the same hence it wont overflow