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It is true that an ice cube will melt much faster in tap water than in salt water. And although there is a difference in how high the ice cube will float in each (as I'd said before), it is not enough to make the major difference.

When you think of a regular ice cube melting in a regular glass of water, you have to remember that cold water (like the water from the ice cube) is actually denser than warm water (like the water in the cup). This is because in the cold water, the molecules have less energy and are actually closer together than in warmer water. So as the ice cube melts, the cold water coming off of it sinks to the bottom of the glass and the warm water from the bottom comes up to take its place. The water in the glass is actually constantly moving, keeping the ice cube warm by something that scientists call 'convection currents.'

But salt water is much denser than tap water, warm or cold. So when you put a freshwater ice cube in a glass of salt water, the cold water coming off the ice cube doesn't sink at all. Instead, the dense salt water stays at the bottom of the glass and the cold water stays on the top. Without any convection currents to carry the cold water away from the ice cube, the ice cube melts much more slowly.

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13y ago

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