Will melting ice cause water level to rise?

Investigates the common belief that melting ice will cause water level to rise

A mathematical proof is provided below:

Let ρ be the density of water and m be mass of ice

Before Melting
By Archimedes Principle
mass of water displaced = mass of ice = m
vol of ice submerged under water = vol of water displaced = m/ρ

After Melting
mass of melted ice = m
vol of melted ice = m/ρ

Hence, volume of ice submerged under water before melting is exactly equal to volume of water formed after melting. Therefore, since volume remains constant, the water level within the cup also remains constant.


By Genesius Ng and Chng Siong Hwa

Category:

Education

Tags:

• water
• level
• melting
• ice

[GenesiusWijaya]

ice expands and water contracts.. but u forgot that since ice floats, a large portion of the vol of ice is not actually under water level and thus do not contribute to the water level..

read the disclaimer that i posted..

Btw i hav a degree in physics and i am doing this as part of a lesson for my students, so i do know what i am saying=)

[Phylo45]

@GenesiusWijaya For someone with a Degree in Physics, you should know that. According to Archimedes:

"Any floating object displaces its own weight of fluid."

So yes, the portion above the water, does contribute to the water level, as it's mass is displaced by the water.

[GenesiusWijaya]

@Phylo45 yups u are correct, but we are talking about volume contribution ie the absolute volume under water.

the whole point of this experiment is to prove the volume contribution vs the mass contribution of water according to archimedes principle before and after melting.. refer to my video description on the detailed mathematical proof =)

[GenesiusWijaya]

Disclaimer: this experiment DOES NOT proof that global warming will not rise sea levels. The rise in sea level due to global warming is very real and encompasses much more factors than simply floating glaciers melting. The in dept discussion on the factors that are the real cause of rising sea levels are out of the scope of this experiment.

[Saparonia]

@mahligros2 New Scientist says:

One theory is that winds have recently swept some areas of Mars clean of dust, darkening the surface, warming the Red Planet ....There is a great deal of uncertainty, though.

and...

Observations of the thickness of Pluto's atmosphere in 2002 suggested the dwarf planet was warming even as its orbit took it further from the Sun. The finding baffled astronomers at the time, and the cause has yet to be determined.

It's the Sun imo

[mahligros2]

@Saparonia Mars and pluto are getting warmer because other planets have seasons like we do, and they are entering a summer-like season.

Actual sun irradiance has dimmed very slightly over the past 50 or so years (but has still fluctuated amongst that time). not enough to cause any sort of panic. But the planets temprature has still risen sharply over the last 30 years, with the suns irradiance levels only following us for the first 10 of those years.

Please know more next time.

[Phylo45]

@GenesiusWijaya oh my bad. It seemed as if you were contradicting yourself, but apparently not :)

[Saparonia]

Mars and Pluto are warming and the Sun is the cause of it. Nasa have forecast a period of cold after 2013. People are making money from the myth of human induced global warming. Their energy should be focused on getting rid of nuclear power stations in this period of unpredictable solar activity

[LendMeYourHand]

Carbon emissions take 1. Lets continue the cycle of life by taking out the very element that allows it to exist. Carbon emissions take 2. I dont want you to eat that plate of food. Here! i will just take the fork away from you. Damn, i didnt think you would just use your hand to eat it instead.

[LendMeYourHand]

Let me elaborate. Lets take an elephant for example. We will view this elephant thru a magnifying glass. The assessment is that the elephant is just too BIG. We want the elephant to be smaller. So we toss the magnifying glass out the window & look at the elephant. Well, there you go, the elephant isnt big anymore. problem solved. But the truth being is that the elephant is still big with or without the magnifying glass. This is the illogic behind carbon emissions.

[LendMeYourHand]

Let me explain this to you. Carbon amplifies background radiation. What you propose, or should i say the corupt industries that seem to escape any accountability for regulating their radioactive emissions propose, is to LOOK THE OTHER WAY. Oddly enough Nuclear industry & the oil tycoons are putting big money behind the lie. So the plan is to do something about the dirty bathwater & the plan is to throw the baby out. Well, they dont plan on throwing the bathwater out with it in this case.