Question

9. Which of the following characteristics of water is most responsible for the sinking of the Titanic? A. Water is liquid at room temperature. B. Water has a high heat of vaporization. C. The temperature of liquid water rises and falls slowly. D. Frozen water is less dense than liquid water. E. Water molecules are cohesive.

Answer 1

Answer:

D. Frozen water is less dense than liquid water.

Explanation:

Titanic sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in the year 1912. There were more than 2000 passengers on board from which about 1500 died.

Frozen water that is ice has less density than liquid water. The density of ice is $0.9167 g/cm^3$ and the density of the water is $0.9998 g/cm^3$.

Due to this very slight difference in density, ice floats on water. Titanic, on the night of April 14, 1912, crashed into an iceberg around midnight which caused opening of 5 of its watertight compartments. The water filled into the ship and it eventually sank in.