A cube of ice of edge 4 cm is placed in an empty cylindrical glass of inner diameter 6 cm. Assume that the ice melts uniformly from each side so that it always retains its cubical shape. - Physics

A cube of ice of edge 4 cm is placed in an empty cylindrical glass of inner diameter 6 cm. Assume that the ice melts uniformly from each side so that it always retains its cubical shape. Remembering that ice is lighter than water, find the length of the edge of the ice cube at the instant it just leaves contact with the bottom of the glass.

Solution

Let the length of the edge of the ice block when it just leaves contact with the bottom of the glass be x and the height of water after melting be h.
Given:
Inner diameter of the cylindrical glass = 6 cm
∴ Inner radius, r = 3 cm
Edge of the ice cube = 4 cm

$\text{ Weight = Upward thurst }$
$\Rightarrow (\text{x} )^3 \times \rho_{\text{ice}} \times \text{g = (x )}^2 \times \text{h} \times \rho_\text{w} \times \text{g}$
$\Rightarrow \text{ h = (0 . 9)x }$

Again, volume of the water left from the melting of the ice is given by

$(4 )^3 - (\text{x} )^3 = \pi \times (r )^2 \times h - x^2 h [\text{ Amount of water } = \rho( r_2 - x_2 )h]$
$\Rightarrow (4 )^3 - (x )^3 = \pi \times (3 )^2 \times h - x^2 h$
$\text{ Putting h = 0 . 9x, we get: }$
$(4 )^3 - (x )^3 = \pi \times (3 )^2 \times (0 . 9)x$

On solving the above equation, we get:
x = 2.26 cm

Concept: Archimedes' Principle
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APPEARS IN

HC Verma Class 11, 12 Concepts of Physics 1
Chapter 13 Fluid Mechanics
Q 25 | Page 275