Ok, so my question is rather dumb and I apologise in advance.
If I have 500ml of warm water, and I place exactly 500ml of ice into said water, when it melts will it make it up to 1L?, and if so why is global warming such an issue because isn’t there more water on earth than there is ice, so wouldn’t it just melt away. (I’m not taking away from the fact global warming I not an issue) I was just making something that needed to cool quick so I put ice in it and it made me curious!!
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Ice at or near melting temperature is less dense than water at or near melting temperature, so if you put 500 mL of ice into 500 mL of water and it all melts, you get less than a liter of water at the end of it.
As /u/aetherialClockwork mentioned, the sea level rise associated with global warming’s melting of ice is due to ice that is currently on land (or other ice) and not already in the water. In your example, you start with 500 mL of water. You add 500 mL of ice to the water and you get almost a liter of water. The important part is not that you get slightly less than a liter, but the fact that your ice went from being outside the water (like a glacier) to being immersed in the water (like a glacier calving into the ocean) and melting. The total volume of liquid nearly doubled.
>If I have 500ml of warm water, and I place exactly 500ml of ice into said water, when it melts will it make it up to 1L?,
No, it’ll be around 950 mL.
Ice is less dense than water so while the 500 mL of warm water weighs about 500 grams, the 500 mL of ice is closer to 460 grams
The concern with global warming isn’t that sea ice melts, it’s that glaciers that are currently over land melt
The ice sheets over northern Russia, Canada, Alaska, and Antarctica don’t fully melt and because they’re supported by land they’re not displacing ocean water. But when they melt their water runs down and into the ocean thus raising the sea level
The ice isn’t all sitting in the water, it’s frozen on land and on mountaintops. If it all melts, it returns to the ocean.
It’s weird to measure a solid in terms of volume, but ice is about 90% as dense as water. If you placed 500 mL of ice into water, after it melts it will only take up 450 mL of volume and you’ll be left with 950 mL of water.
The problem with melting ice is for example the ice sheet covering Greenland, which will add new water to the oceans as it melts
>If I have 500ml of warm water, and I place exactly 500ml of ice into said water, when it melts will it make it up to 1L?,
No, it’ll be around 950 mL.
Ice is less dense than water so while the 500 mL of warm water weighs about 500 grams, the 500 mL of ice is closer to 460 grams
The concern with global warming isn’t that sea ice melts, it’s that glaciers that are currently over land melt
The ice sheets over northern Russia, Canada, Alaska, and Antarctica don’t fully melt and because they’re supported by land they’re not displacing ocean water. But when they melt their water runs down and into the ocean thus raising the sea level
The ice isn’t all sitting in the water, it’s frozen on land and on mountaintops. If it all melts, it returns to the ocean.
Man, all you guys are so fucking smart. This is why I love this subreddit, because I can ask the dumbest questions and not get my ass kicked. Haha. Thank you all.
Ice at or near melting temperature is less dense than water at or near melting temperature, so if you put 500 mL of ice into 500 mL of water and it all melts, you get less than a liter of water at the end of it.
As /u/aetherialClockwork mentioned, the sea level rise associated with global warming’s melting of ice is due to ice that is currently on land (or other ice) and not already in the water. In your example, you start with 500 mL of water. You add 500 mL of ice to the water and you get almost a liter of water. The important part is not that you get slightly less than a liter, but the fact that your ice went from being outside the water (like a glacier) to being immersed in the water (like a glacier calving into the ocean) and melting. The total volume of liquid nearly doubled.
500 ml of liquid water weighs about 500 grams. 500 ml of ice (frozen water) weighs about 458 grams. That is, ice is less dense than (liquid) water. The same number of H2O molecules are packed into a tighter space when they are liquid than when they are solid (frozen).
The result is that if you melt 500 ml of ice, you end up with about 458 ml of liquid water.
Wait, isn’t that a good thing for global warming? If melting ice turns into a smaller volume of water, shouldn’t sea ice melting cause sea levels to *drop*?
Sadly, no. For a few reasons. First, ice floats on water, sticking out above the water surface. So while most of the ice is in the water, below the surface, some of it sticks out above the water. When the ice melts, the part that was above the water now gets into the water, and it turns out that this exactly cancels out the fact that ice shrinks when it melts, so the water level stays the same. This is no accident: the proportion of ice that sticks out above the water line is exactly proportional to the density of ice vs. that of liquid water.
If that made no sense, let’s work through an example. Say you have a glass of water with an ice cube floating in it. Let’s say the ice cube weighs 100 grams. That means the ice cube has a volume of 109 ml. Of this 109 ml, 100 ml (roughly 90%) will be below the water surface. The remaining 9 ml sticks out above the water line (a 100-gram ice cube measures just under 5x5x5 cm, so the ice cube sticks out above the surface by about 5 mm). When the ice cube melts, 100 grams of ice turns into 100 grams of liquid water, which has a volume of 100 ml. So the same volume that was previously taken up by underwater ice is now taken up by melted ice, meaning the water level in the glass will stay the same.
Okay, but if melting ice doesn’t change the water level, then what’s the problem? Well, two things. First of all, not all ice is floating in the ocean. Lots of ice is currently in glaciers and ice sheets on land. When this ice melts, it flows into the ocean and contributes to its volume, causing sea levels to rise. And there’s another problem for global warming, which is that warm water actually takes up more space than cold water (i.e. warm water is less dense). So as the oceans warm up, even by a few degrees, they expand in volume, again causing sea levels to rise.
500 ml of liquid water weighs about 500 grams. 500 ml of ice (frozen water) weighs about 458 grams. That is, ice is less dense than (liquid) water. The same number of H2O molecules are packed into a tighter space when they are liquid than when they are solid (frozen).
The result is that if you melt 500 ml of ice, you end up with about 458 ml of liquid water.
Wait, isn’t that a good thing for global warming? If melting ice turns into a smaller volume of water, shouldn’t sea ice melting cause sea levels to *drop*?
Sadly, no. For a few reasons. First, ice floats on water, sticking out above the water surface. So while most of the ice is in the water, below the surface, some of it sticks out above the water. When the ice melts, the part that was above the water now gets into the water, and it turns out that this exactly cancels out the fact that ice shrinks when it melts, so the water level stays the same. This is no accident: the proportion of ice that sticks out above the water line is exactly proportional to the density of ice vs. that of liquid water.
If that made no sense, let’s work through an example. Say you have a glass of water with an ice cube floating in it. Let’s say the ice cube weighs 100 grams. That means the ice cube has a volume of 109 ml. Of this 109 ml, 100 ml (roughly 90%) will be below the water surface. The remaining 9 ml sticks out above the water line (a 100-gram ice cube measures just under 5x5x5 cm, so the ice cube sticks out above the surface by about 5 mm). When the ice cube melts, 100 grams of ice turns into 100 grams of liquid water, which has a volume of 100 ml. So the same volume that was previously taken up by underwater ice is now taken up by melted ice, meaning the water level in the glass will stay the same.
Okay, but if melting ice doesn’t change the water level, then what’s the problem? Well, two things. First of all, not all ice is floating in the ocean. Lots of ice is currently in glaciers and ice sheets on land. When this ice melts, it flows into the ocean and contributes to its volume, causing sea levels to rise. And there’s another problem for global warming, which is that warm water actually takes up more space than cold water (i.e. warm water is less dense). So as the oceans warm up, even by a few degrees, they expand in volume, again causing sea levels to rise.
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