dsgrue3 said:
lulz, Khan brings up a valid point and then some guy quotes him only to respond with an invalid one. Classic. The displacement is what the experiment shows, dude. The volume of that ice is equal to the volume of its water when melted. Thus, you will never overflow. Conservation of energy. Water + Ice = Displacement Displacement = volume of ice volume of ice = volume of melted ice Get it? |
That's not exactly correct. Almost any substance, going from one state to another, changes in volume. Most liquids that freeze shrink, but water actually works backwards, it expands as the molecules align into their solid pattern. Conservation of energy is another concept altogether - energy is released or absorbed as states change. (ice -> +energy -> water -> +energy -> steam ...this is why steam burns happen, the steam releases energy onto you as it changes to water, and why you feel so cold getting out of a pool, the water is taking energy from you as it evaporates)
However, Mr Khan is still correct. The problem (for the sea level) isn't that ice in the ocean will melt, the problem is that ice on land (and there's a lot of it on Antarctica) will melt, adding water to the ocean that isn't currently there.
