Numerical experiments were made using a time-dependent nonlinear finite element model of glacier flow to seek confirmation of theoretical predictions made in the companion to this paper <Bahr et al., this issue>. The theoretical analysis indicates that under conditions of equal gradients in mass balance along the glacier surface (∂b˙/∂x), other variables being held constant, response time to mass balance perturbations will decrease as glacier size increases. This behavior is confirmed by the numerical model experiments, which are performed on a suite of 23 radially symmetric ice caps with sizes ranging over ~4 orders of magnitude. The shape and mass balance profiles of the ice caps are defined so that ∂b˙/∂x is constant over all ice caps, and for uniform perturbations in mass balance, the modeled response times are faster for larger ice caps. The model results also confirm a volume/area scaling relationship established in the theoretical discussion and confirm the equivalence between two measures of response time, one arising from the present theory and the other a conventional expression of response time. The apparent discrepancy between the present results and preexisting theory is discussed, and it is shown that the results are compatible. ¿ 1998 American Geophysical Union