The same volume of ice as water will be lighter, since it is less dense. That's why ice floats on water
this post was submitted on 05 Jan 2026
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I blame the fact I just woke up for not thinking about the difference in density π I was just filling up my water bottle with ice cubes and thought about how ice expands and my brain went "bigger must mean heavier"
So here's a question for you? What weighs more, a kilogramme of steel or a kilogramme of feathers?
The feathers. You have to carry the weight of what you did to those birds.
"You done clucked up, boy!" - Chicken St.Peter
And I need a container to carry that many feathers.
I can carry the kg of steel in one hand.
Itβs an old riddle that only works with imperial units. In traditional British (i.e. completely insane) fashion, the imperial weights and measures had two pounds in it, and you had to choose the right pound for the right thing you were weighing. The troy pound was used to measure metals and only has 12 ounces, whereas the pound used to measure feathers had 16, so a pound of feathers was 4 ounces heavier than a pound of steel or gold or whatever.
Wow. You really dont get it.
A pound is the same for both. The oz measure is what was different. Thus an oz of metal is heavier than an oz of feathres. However a pound of both weights the same.
No. Steel is heavier than feathers.
Not by weight
This comment section is fucking hilarious, people not getting the joke and others making them the butt of it
Which would you prefer dropped on your head?
Clearly the steel weighs more.
At least you can admit it. I once tried for an hour to get someone to understand before I gave up.
Well, that's the answer in terms of comparative density, but in terms of comparative weight, I'm wondering if the ice would indeed be heavier since it commonly traps additional gases in the freezing process.
So yeah, I'm not entirely sure if OP was talking more about weight or density.
@thatweirdguy1001@lemmy.world
Would depend, are you saying the same volume in same state or different states? If you freeze 1 volume of liquid water and compare it to a liquid same volume of water I would question it. Is the trapped air in ice from the ambient environment or is it dissolved air expelled from the water as the molecules lock together?
Would be interesting to freeze two samples in sealed containers with one being in a vacume.
Density is mass by volume. The volume changes because of the crystalline lattice. The mass doesn't change. I'm trying to decide if you're trolling or not.
They arenβt wrong. Youβre keeping the mass constant, theyβre keeping the volume constant.
I think the confusion might come from their phrasing: βthe same volume of ice as water,β which could mean βthe same volume of ice as the volume of waterβ (which is what they meant), but could also be interpreted as βthe same volume of ice in the form of water.β The latter interpretation doesnβt fit the rest of their sentence though, so we can safely assume they meant the former.
They talk about comparing the same volume of ice and liquid water, e.g. 1 cmΒ³ ice vs. 1 cmΒ³ liquid water, not two specimen of the same mass.
Per gram, they weigh the same
Ackshually, gram is a measurement of mass, not of weight. And because a gram of ice takes up more volume than a gram of water, it is likely to float on top of the water, where it is slightly further away from the center of gravity, therefore experiencing less strong gravity. As such, a gram of ice likely weighs less than a gram of water. :P
(I spent far too long thinking how I could torpedo that silly joke of yours, because I figured there must be something with mass vs. weight there. π« )
hah! my uncle used to say what's heavier ? one kilo of feathers or one kilo of lead ??
but that's not my uncle
If you measure the weight of a glass of water and then freeze that same glass the weight will not change. The volume will increase but the mass will be static which accounts for the decrease in density
Water is weirdly one of the only materials that is lighter (less dense) in its solid form. That's why ice cubes float.
When a mass expands, it ALWAYS becomes less dense.
Water does not "trap" air molecules as is freezes, although water may contain dissolved gasses.
The typical ice you interact with is "lighter" than water but I'd describe it as "less dense." There are forms of ice that are "heavier" (more dense, doesn't float) than water but you won't find it naturally occurring on earth, at least not in significant quantities. You can make this "heavy" ice by doing black magic chemistry
it can't be, otherwise icebergs would sink instead of float
Ice is generally not full of air bubbles, so no, the same mass of water does not get heavier when turned to ice. The water just takes up more space in crystaline form, taking up more volume at a lower density.
Ice is less dense then water due to extensive hydrogen bonding, lattice of hydrogen bonds form when water freezes. Chemistry!
Another way to look at it: You already know water expands when it freezes.
So if you freeze 1 litre of water, you'll get more than one litre of ice. To get exactly 1 litre of ice, you have to take some of the ice away, so you have less stuff in that litre so it's lighter.
As others have stated, water expands when it freezes, making it less dense.
Good question. So, perform an experiment: put an ice cube without air bubbles in a glass containing a mixture of ice and cold water. The temperature should become 0Β°C (just before it freezes), measure it.
Your hypothesis: ice is heavier than water, so it will sink
Execute the test several times, preferably 10 times or more. More is better.
Please share your experiment results. Interesting data to know for each test would include:
- sequence number of the test
- temperature of the mixture before and after you put the ice cube in
- method of ice cube creation
- volume of the ice cube
- volume of water/ice mixture
- depth of the water/ice mixture (should be > size of the ice cube)
- type of water used (tap, bottled, ...)
- did the ice cube sink
- if no, what volume of the cube remained above the surface level
please also share your conclusion.
This ICE ain't floating
JFC this thread. This is grade 4 science.
Fat is also less dense than water, so this particular ICE probably would float.