Title : ARCHIMDES’ PRINCIPLE

Objective:

To determine the density of various solids and liquids using Archimedes’ Principle.

Introduction:

Recall that the mass of a body m is related to its density  and volume V by

m  V Eq. (1)

Liquid

mg

In the diagram above, the object is suspended from a string and submerged in a liquid. The
submerged object now displaces a volume V of liquid. The submerged object is subjected to
three forces now; the gravitational force, the tension T in the string, and an upward force
known as the buoyant force. Archimedes determined that the buoyant force B is equal to the
weight of the liquid displaced by the object:

B   LVg  mLiquid Displaced g Eq.(2)

If there is no net force on the submerged object then:

 B  mg  T  W  T   L gV Eq.(3)

Solving for the volume of the body:

m T / g
V  W gT  L Eq.(4)
L

Apparatus:

1. Pingpong ball
2. Plasticine
3. Water
4. Beaker
5. Measuring cylinder

Procedure:

1. Empty beaker, ping pong ball and plasticine are weighed and recorded.
2. Water and ping pong ball are poured into the beaker and they are weighed and
recorded again.
3. Water is poured into the measuring cylinder, initial reading is recorded.
4. Plasticine is released into the measuring cylinder and the final reading is recorded.

Data & Calculation.

Ping Pong Ball

Mass (g) Mass (kg) Weight
 (±0.001) (N)
Mass of ball 2.08 0.00238 0.0238
Mass of empty beaker 185.64 0.18564 1.8564
Mass of beaker + water 188.60 0.18860 1.8860
Mass of displaced fluid 2.96 0.00296 0.0296

Ping Pong Ball

Mass (kg) Weight Volume Volume
(±0.001) (N) (mL) (𝒎𝟑 )
(±0.1)

Volume initial water 28.0 0.000028

Volume water + ping pong ball 30.0 0.000030
Volume of water displaced 2.0 0.000002
Volume of ping pong ball 2.0 0.000002
Mass of ping pong ball 0.00296 0.0296

Plasticine
Mass (kg) Weight Volume Volume
(±0.001) (N) (mL) (𝒎𝟑 )
(±0.01)

Volume initial water 20.0 0.000010

Volume water + plasticine 30.0 0.000030
Volume of water displaced 10.0 0.000010
Volume of plasticine 10.0 0.000010
Mass of plasticine 0.01557 0.1557

Discussion.
According to Archimedes principle Bouyant force = weight of displaced fluid. So the
buoyant force of the ping pong ball supposed to be 0.0296N. this result is slightly different to
the actual weight of the ping pong ball which is 0.0238N. This error may due to the difficulty
to precisely read the scale because of the curved surface of the water. Furthermore, water
droplets kept falling off the sides of the cylinder (and raising the water level in the cylinder).

Archimedes principle also state that the volume of object = volume of displaced fluid, so the
volume of plasticine used and water displaced both are 10mL and 0.000010m3.

Conclusion.

From the experimental result, we can deduced that the density of the ping pong ball is
1190kg/m3 while the density of the plasticine used is 1557 kg/m3.