If ice is less dense than water, how come icebergs are mostly submerged rather than only half?

Question

For example, most “full view” iceberg pictures I’ve seen, the iceberg has been vertically oriented – if ice is less dense than water, wouldn’t it at least be horizontal, with more than 10-15% of the mass visible above water?

In: Physics

Answer 1

First of all, I don’t know that ELI5 and the density concept really fit together. But oh well.

My explanation goes like this:
Ice is less dense than water, but only slightly. On the other hand, it is much (!) more dense than air. So its “desire” to leave the air towards gravity (sink) is stronger than its “desire” to leave the water away from gravity (float).