Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I put ice cubes (made of water) into cups of liquids (milk, green tea, water, mango juice, coke and saltwater) to find out which liquid melts ice fastest. The result is that water melts ice fastest while mango juice melts ice slowest.

I think because of the high density liquids (that is mango juice) sink at the bottom of the cup and did not flow to the top of the to give heat energy to the ice cube to melt. In water, because water’s density is lower, therefore it flow up to the top and giving heat energy to ice cube to melt.

Is this the correct reasons? Or, is there anything I missed in my analysis?

Thank you!

Hi Ashley,

This sounds like a fun project! I think you may be on to something with your hypothesis but I'm not sure. You might consider researching different types of heat transfer such as conductive (mango juice touching ice cube) and convective (air touching ice cube floating on top of juice). There can also be convective forces at play in the "circulation" within the cup. For example in a cup of just water colder water will sink to the bottom warmer water will rise to the top due to their densities. Ocean currents are a big example of this phenomena.

Good luck,

Audrey