When ice cube melts in water the level of water doesn't change but when glaciers melts in oceans sea water level increases why?
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1$\begingroup$ Because the glaciers are on land not water $\endgroup$– John RennieCommented Mar 10, 2019 at 13:31
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$\begingroup$ Seems answered in physics.stackexchange.com/q/28548 $\endgroup$– pinchunCommented Mar 10, 2019 at 13:49
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1 Answer
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The reason for this misconception is the negligible difference between the density of ice and water. This difference is so small we approximate that there isn't any, so we assume the density, hence the volume, occupied to be the same. In reality there is actually a minute difference in density between water and ice, and the cumulative sum of these differences over a large scale like glaciers results in a large change. You might wonder why if you drop ice into water, it always finds it way to the surface, why is that? Flotation is determined by whether the solid in liquid is denser or less dense, and denser equals sinking and less dense equals floatation. But as you might have observed, the Archimedes buoyancy force isn't very much, as you can easily sink an ice in water by just touching it.
And for a fact, glaciers are not in water prior to melting, so regardless they'll raise the level anyway.
Check out the link for more insight: https://nsidc.org/news/newsroom/20050801_floatingice.html
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$\begingroup$ The difference in density between ice and water is 10 %, it is not minute. And for the answer, it does not matter how much it is. $\endgroup$– user137289Commented Mar 14, 2019 at 23:38
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$\begingroup$ 1.0 $\:\rm g/mL$ and 0.92 $\:\rm g/mL$ isn't much of a difference on the scale of other common solid to liquid density change. The main reason of sea level rise is the fact that glaciers aren't originally in ocean water but rather on solid ground, and as they melt the water flows into ocean causing rise of sea level. But since the OP pointed out a reference scenario he's puzzled about, I must clear that out along with the main point. $\endgroup$ Commented Mar 15, 2019 at 10:31