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Hi,

I have some urgent questions about the use of "made of", "made from", and "made with".

Is ice made from water or made of water?
Can I say "the table is made of wood and steel" (because there are two kinds of materials to make the table.) ? Or should I say "the table is made with wood and steel"? Isn't "made of" used only when there is one kind of material there? And how about "made from"? Please explain why.

Thank you guys!

"Made of" or "made up of" refers to to what something comprises or consists of. It usually refers to individual parts that are still recognizable. It can also refer to the composition of something made from refined or man-made ingredients.

The USA is made up of 50 individual states.
A tossed sald is made of lettuce, tomatoes, and onion.
This desk is made of plastic.

"Made from" or "made out of" refers to the ingredients in something. These are usually raw materials or things that are no longer recognizable.

This cereal is made from oats.
This girder is made from iron ore.

For more on this one, go to:
http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1775
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Ice is not made of, from, out of, by, with water, I think.

Because ice is water.

Ice is water in another form.

Thus:

Ice is a form of water
Ice is water in the solid state
Ice is a solid from of water.

[Perhaps:

Ice is made of crystals of water?]

Here here

Ice, water and steam are all made up of two hydrogen molecules and one oxygen molecule!

Did you make any more ice cubes (??from water??)?

Did you make any more orange-flavored icecubes?

The table top is made of chipboard with a walnut veneer; the legs are screw-on steel ones.

The "ice is made of water", and perhaps even "this table is made from/of wood and steel" examples aren't telling us much. Conceivably, we'd want more SPECIFIC information, and that doesn't reside in an exact choice of preposition (but you could maybe discern a meaningful pattern if you studied enough data).