Question

If density usually increases with decreasing temperature, why does ice float on liquid water? Explain.

Answer 1

Answer:

If you continue to cool water past 4 degrees Celsius, its density starts to plummet (you can see this in the graph). At zero degrees, i.e., the temperature at which water turns into ice, the density of water is actually quite low. It turns out that ice has a lower density than water, and any object that has a lower density than the liquid form on which it’s kept (in this case, water) will be able to float!

Explanation: