Does Sea Level Change When a Floating Iceberg Melts?

• Autores: Boon Leong Lan
• Localización: The Physics Teacher, ISSN 0031-921X, Vol. 48, Nº. 5, 2010, págs. 328-329
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • On the answer page1to a recent �Figuring Physics� question, the cute mouse asks another question: �Does the [sea] water level change if the iceberg melts?� The conventional answer2�4is �no.� However, in this paper I will show through a simple analysis involving Archimedes principle that the sea level will rise. The analysis shows the wrong conventional answer is due to the wrong assumption that water from a melted iceberg has the same density as seawater. An iceberg is freshwater ice.5The sea level rise is essentially due to the difference in the density of seawater (1024 kg/m3) and freshwater (1000 kg/m3). A simple experiment, suitable as an introductory laboratory exercise, that validates the predicted sea level rise is presented at the end of the paper.