Melting Ice Cube Simulator (2D)

This 2D side-view simulator models an ice cube melting on a plate under real thermodynamics: convective heat transfer from the ambient air pulls heat into the ice at a rate proportional to its exposed surface area and the temperature difference above freezing, and that heat is consumed entirely by the latent heat of fusion rather than warming the ice, so the melt rate is physically grounded rather than a cosmetic shrink animation. Drag the ambient-temperature slider to see melting speed up in a warm room and stop completely at or below 0 °C, and the initial-size slider to see how a larger cube takes disproportionately longer to disappear because its surface-to-volume ratio starts out smaller. Live readouts track the remaining ice fraction, the volume of meltwater pooling underneath, and a running estimate of the time left until the cube is fully melted.