Crosswords3 mins ago
Just An Idle Thought.
Why does ice float? I know a ninth of it is above the water surface.
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.Many things in their solid state are more dense than in their liquid state. Water is not one of those things, which is lucky: if ice sank in water, the Ice Age would have been even more catastrophic for life than it is already was. As stated, water has it's maximum density at 4C, which means that fish and other life under the water could carry on living under the ice, rather than being crush by it.
If ice was denser than liquid water, it would sink to the bottom and a pond would freeze from the bottom up rather than creating a layer of ice on the top surface. Ice skating wouldn't be possible unless the whole pond was frozen from top to bottom, and fish would freeze solid in the ice rather than being able to swim around underneath it. Quite probably life as we know it would not have developed.
Isn't god wonderful. :-)