Re: Does Ice melt faster on different surfaces or in different tempaters?

The rate at which heat transfers from one object to another is determined by 
both the temperature difference, the surface area, and a property referred to 
as thermal conductivity.  If the surface area is kept constant (use the same 
size and shape ice cubes in all experiments), then the only factors affecting 
the rate at which the ice cube melts should be the temperature difference and 
thermal conductivity.

The greater the temperature difference the greater the rate of heating of the 
ice cube.

Thermal conductivity is different for different materials.  Glass tends to be a 
thermal insulator, or will have a low thermal conductivity.  Metal is a very 
good heat conductor, or will have a high thermal conductivity.  Concrete will 
have a thermal conductivity somewhere between that of glass and metal, and not 
a lot more needs to be said for concrete because its thermal conductivity is 
dependent on a number of factors including density and surface texture.

For a reference I used M. Necati Oozisik, Heat Transfer: A Basic Approach, 
McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, 1985, isbn 0-07-047982-8