Density of Ice
Ice is about eight percent lighter than the water it froze from, an anomaly with consequences from floating bergs to burst pipes and frost heave.
917 kg per cubic meter at 0 °C
| Density at 0 °C | 917 kg per cubic meter |
| Expansion on freezing | about 9 percent by volume |
| Fraction of an iceberg below water | about 90 percent |
| Freezing pressure in confinement | can exceed 100 MPa |
| Glacier ice, compacted | 830 to 917 kg per cubic meter |
Notes for design and site
The nine percent expansion is the quiet destroyer in cold climates: water in a sealed pipe, a rock joint, or a concrete pore has to go somewhere, and confined freezing generates pressures no ordinary material resists. Frost heave adds a subtler mechanism, growing ice lenses that lift pavements even without saturation, which is why frost depth sets foundation depth in cold regions.
Related Calculators and Reference
- Groundwater Flow Simulator: watch these properties drive an aquifer.
- Effective Stress Equation: where the unit weight of water earns its keep.
- USGS Water Science School: authoritative water properties and explanations.