Sinking Ice

It would have saved the Titanic

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Purpose -

Shows the differences in density between water and mentholated spirits and the relationship between density and floating.

Nature - 

Demonstration or Practical

Materials - 

2 x 250ml beakers, Methylated spirits, water, ice cubes

Method - 

· Half fill one beaker with water and the other with methylated spirits

· Drop an ice cube into the water and observe what happens.

· Drop another cube into the methylated spirits and see the difference.

Safety -

Nil

Explanation -

Water and methylated spirits are of a different density, and the ice is less dense than water but more dense than methylated spirits For this reason the ice will float in water but not the methylated spirits.

Notes -

As a practical this works better with test tubes and small pieces (crushed) of ice.  To make the demo more obvious try creating ice cubes from coloured water.  A similar principle is demonstrated by the Hanging Oil Drop.