Cooler of Ice

Most recent answer: 10/22/2007

Q:
what is the weight of a 48 quart cooler of ice weigh?
- Anonymous
A:
This isn’t a number that I know off the top of my head, but we can figure it out...

First, let’s assume that the cooler is totally full of ice - i.e. one great big 48 quart ice cube.

I looked online and found out that the density of ice is about .92 grams per cm3. A cm3 is the same volume as a mL, so this means that 1 mL of ice weighs .92 grams. So all we need to know is how many mL’s there are in 48 quarts. Here’s the conversion we’ll need:

1 quart = 0.946 liters (US - the UK quart is different)
so... 48 quarts = 48 x 0.946 liters = 45.4 liters

1 liter = 1000 mL
so... 45.4 liters = 45.4 x 1000 mL = 45,400 mL

Now we use the density of ice:
1 mL = 0.92 grams
so... 45,400 mL = 45,400 x 0.92 grams = 41,800 grams
This is the same as 41.8 kilograms or 92 lbs.

Of course, if the cooler is only filled with ice cubes, instead of one big chunk of ice, there will be a lot of air in there too, so the weight will be lower.

-Tamara

(published on 10/22/2007)