text: do ice cubes float in oil? i don't have enough oil to do the experiment and when i tried with the little i had it half-sank half-floated. (seriously, one end hit the bottom and the other was at the top) also if you can answer why it floats/sinks/stays in the middle that would be nice =) ice cubes do not float on all liquids. for example, if you place your  ice cube in a cup of light oil (thin cooking oil. don't use heavy greasy  oils), it will sink. it depends upon density of oils, density of oil is less than water in other words oil is less denser than water thats why it floats on water. if you put ice in more denser oil like heavy greace oil, ice cubes will float on this greace oil.  why do things float on water? this has to do with something known as  bouyancy. it's because of bouyancy that ships can float on water,  as can corks and other things. it's also the reason that archimedes ran  out of his bath naked screaming 'eureka!' all those years ago.   think about a tub of water or a swimming pool. if you push your hand in,  the deeper you go, the harder the water pushes on your hand, because the  deeper you go, the more water there is above you that's weighing down on  you. same with air. if you climb high into the mountains, there is less  air over your head, so it doesn't push on you quite as hard any more. this  is the reason your ears pop when you go very high very fast. the  pressure of air in your ears is different from that of the air  outside, and it is released in a 'pop'.  ice cubes float on water because it is less dense than water.  density measures how much mass there is per volume. for example, if you  have a metal cube and a plastic cube of the same volume (same length,  width, and height -- same size), the metal cube is denser than the plastic  cube. most people would say 'the metal cube is heavier', and that's  because it's more dense, so there's more matter per unit of volume than  the plastic cube.  when an object, like an ice cube, is placed in water, the water pushes  against the object, this is called 'exerting a pressure on the object'.  his pressure can come from below as well as from above. if you're not  using water, and use honey or some other liquid that is denser than water,  the pressure will be higher. if you use oil or some liquid that is less  dense than water, the pressure will be less. the object itself has a  weight, and is being pulled downwards by gravity. the more mass the object  has, the more strongly it is pulled downwards by gravity. if the downward  pull of gravity is greater than the upwards push of the liquid against the  object, then the object will sink. if the gravitational pull is less than  the upwards push of the liquid, then the object will float. if the two  forces are the same, then the object will just hang there, neither  floating nor sinking.  tbe ice cube floats not only because of its density, but because of its  shape too. imagine a huge ship. it's made of lots of heavy metal and  steel, but it still can float. this is because of its shape. it is made to  spread out wide over the water, so that there is more water that can push  up from below to balance out the weight of the ship. if the ship were just  a solid cube of metal, then it will sink, because the force of the water  pushing from below, the bouyant force, is not enough to balance out the  weight of the ship, and it sinks.  i hope this explanation helps, and if you have any more queries, feel free  to ask us have a great time!