text: if you place two ice cubes in a glass of water and mark the level of water in the...? glass, and come back one hour later to notice nthat the cubes melted, what is the water level, why? the water level would of decreased due to water being the only substance in chemistry that expands when in a solid state.  therefore, archimedes theory that the volume of water will be displaced by the volume of the ice cubes. thus, because water expends when frozen, the volume of water will be less when the ice cubes have melted.