An Explanation of Why Ice Floats
Through chemistry scientists are able to unravel many of Earth’s natural secrets. Properties of chemistry play a vital role in the lives of every organism on the planet, often serving as the connection between various sciences and daily functions. For instance, it might seem puzzling at first, if one were to say that the reason the Titanic sank, the ability of people to skate on a frozen pound, and the reason that ice cubes stay at the top of a glass of water are all a result of the same chemical process. However, all of the aforementioned topics are indeed connected by the unique chemical property of ice, or the solid form of water, that allows it float on top of its liquid state. In other words, they are …show more content…
Furthermore, ice always floats on water because some property of ice causes it to be less dense than the liquid. Unfortunately, Galileo also wrongly stated that an object 's shape bore no effect on that object 's ability to sink or float, which was the focal point of Ludovico’s counterargument. Galileo did not take into account surface tension forces that under certain conditions can allow an object that under normal circumstances would sink to float when resting on the surface of a liquid, which is largely dependent on the surface area of the liquid covered by the …show more content…
In order to do this, it is critical to understand the molecular structure of water and its resulting properties. Water is composed of one atom of oxygen bonded covalently with two atoms of hydrogen, giving it the chemical formula of H2O and an angular shape. A property of oxygen is that it has a higher electronegativity than hydrogen, and as a result, it pulls the electrons in the Oxygen-hydrogen bonds towards itself. Because of its increased proximity to the electrons, the oxygen becomes slightly negatively charged and the hydrogen atoms become slightly positively charged. The angular shape and resulting charges give the H2O molecule polarity, or a positive and negative pole. Resulting Ionic interactions ensue as the negative oxygens of one water molecule attract to the positive hydrogens of another water molecule. A property of these attractions is the surface tension of water not accounted for by Galileo and the tendency for liquid water to attract to
Through chemistry scientists are able to unravel many of Earth’s natural secrets. Properties of chemistry play a vital role in the lives of every organism on the planet, often serving as the connection between various sciences and daily functions. For instance, it might seem puzzling at first, if one were to say that the reason the Titanic sank, the ability of people to skate on a frozen pound, and the reason that ice cubes stay at the top of a glass of water are all a result of the same chemical process. However, all of the aforementioned topics are indeed connected by the unique chemical property of ice, or the solid form of water, that allows it float on top of its liquid state. In other words, they are …show more content…
Furthermore, ice always floats on water because some property of ice causes it to be less dense than the liquid. Unfortunately, Galileo also wrongly stated that an object 's shape bore no effect on that object 's ability to sink or float, which was the focal point of Ludovico’s counterargument. Galileo did not take into account surface tension forces that under certain conditions can allow an object that under normal circumstances would sink to float when resting on the surface of a liquid, which is largely dependent on the surface area of the liquid covered by the …show more content…
In order to do this, it is critical to understand the molecular structure of water and its resulting properties. Water is composed of one atom of oxygen bonded covalently with two atoms of hydrogen, giving it the chemical formula of H2O and an angular shape. A property of oxygen is that it has a higher electronegativity than hydrogen, and as a result, it pulls the electrons in the Oxygen-hydrogen bonds towards itself. Because of its increased proximity to the electrons, the oxygen becomes slightly negatively charged and the hydrogen atoms become slightly positively charged. The angular shape and resulting charges give the H2O molecule polarity, or a positive and negative pole. Resulting Ionic interactions ensue as the negative oxygens of one water molecule attract to the positive hydrogens of another water molecule. A property of these attractions is the surface tension of water not accounted for by Galileo and the tendency for liquid water to attract to