Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Dec 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006aas...20920905n&link_type=abstract
2007 AAS/AAPT Joint Meeting, American Astronomical Society Meeting 209, #209.05; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society,
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Archimedes stated that a floating body displaces its own weight of liquid, but his law has been widely misapplied to ice floating in the oceans by scientists who assumed that equal weights correspond to equal liquid volumes. It is often said that when floating ice melts, the sea level does not rise "because of Archimedes' law." True when ice floats in fresh water, but a myth for ice in oceans! Most ice floating in the oceans is nearly pure water. When it melts, the pure water produced has about 2.6% more volume than the salt water that was displaced, and the ocean slightly rises. It is often suggested that students demonstrate the "fact" of no rise in the sea surface by melting ice cubes floating in a glass of water; such a demonstration even appears in the movie "An Inconvenient Truth." Let's teach students to spot such errors.
We highlight a couple more "surprise issues." First, the density of the floating ice, if it is free of salt and dirt, is irrelevant, so long as it floats. Next, when "grounded" ice (resting on land), enters the sea, it initially displaces less water than its melted form will eventually add to the sea. Thus, an event of that kind, such as formation of an iceberg, produces a rise of the sea level in two stages.
We conclude with a series of thought-experiments that could help teachers and students discern the correct result, and a photo of a demonstration.
Brower Kay R.
Noerdlinger Peter D.
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