Question

Why does ice stay at the top of oceans instead of sinking to the bottom

Answer 1

Because the solid form of H2O is less dense than the liquid form.

Answer 2

Water does something pretty cool when it freezes: it expands!

Most substances don't do this. When they freeze, they contract. This is important because we need to look at the density of an object to see if it will float or not.

Since water expands when it freezes, the same mass of H20 takes up more space. Density is mass/volume, so if the same mass takes up more space, then it has a lower density. If you put something into a liquid that has a lower density than the liquid, it floats.

So, ice floats in the oceans because ice has a lower density than the surrounding water. It has this lower density because water expands when it freezes.

Answer 3

Whenever a body is immersed in a liquid....buoyant force acts on it!

Buoyant force= volume occupied * density of liquid * gravity

For a just sink condition... Weight of the body equals to buoyant force...
Therefor density of substance =density of liquid!
For ice....density is 0.9/cc and water is 1g/cc...if u take the ratio....you get 0.9...and if u multiply by 100 you get 90%!
Therefore 90% of ice is actually under water!
It is just the 10 % which we see above the surface of the water