Archimedes’ Principle Answer Key

Vocabulary: Archimedes’ principle, buoyant force, density, displace, mass, volume, weight

Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)

[Note: The purpose of these questions is to activate prior knowledge and get students thinking.
Students are not expected to know the answers to the Prior Knowledge Questions.]

1. Why does a small pebble sink in water?

Answers will vary. [A small pebble sinks because it is heavier than the water it displaces.]

2. A motorboat is a lot heavier than a pebble. Why does the boat float?

Answers will vary. [A motorboat floats because its weight is equal to the weight of water that
it displaces.]

Gizmo Warm-up
When you place an object in liquid, the downward pull
of gravity causes it to start to sink. As the object sinks,
the liquid pushes back up on the object with a force
that opposes gravity.

In the Archimedes’ Principle Gizmo™, you will see

how these forces cause objects to either sink or float.

1. Check that the Width, Length, and Height of the

boat are set to 5.0 cm. Drag one of the green 50-g
cubes into the rectangular “boat.”

What happens?

The boat sinks 2 cm into the liquid.

2. Add cubes until the boat sinks. What mass of cubes causes the boat to sink? 150 g

(Note: In this Gizmo, the mass of the boat itself is insignificant.)

3. Click Reset. Experiment with different boat dimensions until you create a boat that holds the
most cubes without sinking.

A. What are the boat’s dimensions? Width: 10.0 cm Length: 10.0 cm Height: 10.0
cm
B. How much mass can the boat hold without sinking? 950 grams (19 cubes)
 Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity A:
 Click Reset.
Displaced liquid  Set the Width, Length, and Height to 5.0 cm.
 Be sure the Liquid density is set to 1.0 g/mL.

Question: How does the mass of the boat relate to the amount of displaced liquid?

1. Observe: Place several of the 50-g cubes into the boat. What happens to some of the liquid

in the tank? Some of the liquid in the water tank overflows into the graduated cylinder.

The liquid that is pushed into the graduated cylinder is called displaced liquid.

2. Predict: How do you think the mass of the boat will relate to the amount of displaced liquid?

Predictions will vary.

3. Observe: Click Reset. Drag two cubes into the boat, yielding a total mass of 100 grams.

How much water is displaced into the graduated cylinder? (Units are mL.) 100 mL

4. Experiment: Click Reset. Choose a new set of boat dimensions. Add cubes to the boat and
record the volume of displaced liquid. (If the boat sinks, try a larger set of dimensions.)
Record your findings for three boats in the table (include units). Leave the last column blank.

Width Length Height Boat mass Volume of displaced Mass of displaced

(cm) (cm) (cm) (g) liquid (mL) liquid (g)

Selected boat dimensions will vary. However, the boat mass, volume of displaced liquid,
and mass of displaced liquid will all be equal for each boat.

5. Calculate: Density is equal to mass per unit volume. To calculate density, divide an object’s
mass by its volume.

If the liquid’s density is 1 gram per milliliter (the density of water), the mass in grams is equal
to the volume in milliliters. Use this information to fill in the last column of your data table.

6. Draw conclusions: What is the relationship between the mass of the boat and the mass of
the displaced liquid?

For each boat, the mass of the boat is equal to the mass of the displaced liquid.
 Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity B:
 Click Reset.
How low does it
 Be sure the Liquid density is set to 1.0 g/mL.
go?
 Set the Height of the boat to 10.0 cm.

Introduction: In activity A, you learned that, for floating boats, the mass of the boat is equal to
the mass of displaced liquid. You can use this knowledge to predict how deep a boat will sink.

Question: How far will a boat sink in water?

1. Experiment: Turn on Magnify waterline. Experiment with several different sets of boat
dimensions and loads. In the table, record each boat’s width, length, and mass; the depth to
which it sinks, and the volume of displaced liquid. Leave the last column blank.

Width Length Boat Sinking Volume of displaced Volume

(cm) (cm) mass (g) depth (cm) water (mL) underwater (cm3)

Boat dimensions and masses will vary. For each boat, the boat’s mass, volume of
displaced water, and volume underwater will be equal.

2. Calculate: Label the last column in your table Volume underwater. To calculate the volume
of the boat that is underwater, multiply the width, length, and depth of the boat. Record the
underwater volume of each boat. The units of volume are cm3 and mL (1 cm3 = 1 mL).

3. Analyze: What is the relationship between a boat’s mass, the volume of displaced water,
and the volume of the boat that is under water?

The boat’s mass, volume of displaced water, and volume underwater are all equal.

4. Make a rule: If you know the width, length, and mass of a boat, how can you calculate how

deep it will sink in water? Divide the mass of the boat by its base area (depth = m / (w • l)).

5. Practice: Based on what you have learned, calculate how deep each of the following boats
will sink. Use the Gizmo to check your answers.

Boat Sinking depth Sinking depth

Boat Width Length
mass (calculated) (actual)
A 8.0 cm 5.0 cm 100 g 2.5 cm 2.5 cm
B 6.0 cm 5.0 cm 150 g 5.0 cm 5.0 cm

(Activity B continued on next page)

Activity B (continued from previous page)

7. Predict: Not all liquids have the same density as water. How do you think increasing the
density of the liquid will change each of the following?

A. How far the boat sinks into the liquid: Predictions will vary.

B. The volume of displaced liquid: Predictions will vary

C. The mass of displaced liquid: Predictions will vary

8. Observe: Set the Width, Length, and Height of the boat to 5 cm. Add one cube to the boat.
Move the Liquid density slider back and forth.

What do you notice? As the liquid density increases, the boat floats higher in the liquid. As
the liquid density decreases, the boat sinks lower into the liquid.

9. Gather data: Measure how far the boat sinks into liquids with each density listed below.
Click Reset between each trial. Calculate the volume and mass of displaced liquid. (Note:
The mass of the displaced liquid is equal to the volume of the liquid multiplied by its density.)

Liquid Sinking Volume of displaced Mass of displaced

Boat mass
density depth (cm) liquid (mL) liquid (g)
50 g 0.5 g/mL 4.0 cm 100 mL 50 g
50 g 1.0 g/mL 2.0 cm 50 mL 50 g
50 g 2.0 g/mL 1.0 cm 25 mL 50 g

10. Analyze: In the first part of this activity, you discovered that when a boat is placed in water,
the volume of displaced water is equal to the mass of the boat. What is true now?

The mass of the boat is always equal to the mass of the displaced liquid. [Alternative: The
volume of displaced liquid is equal to the boat mass divided by the liquid density.]

11. Summarize: If you know the length, width, and mass of the boat as well as the density of the
liquid, how would you calculate how far the boat sinks into the liquid?

First divide the boat mass by the liquid density to get the volume of displaced liquid. Then
divide the volume of displaced liquid by the base area of the boat to get the sinking depth.

12. Practice: A rectangular boat has a width of 5 cm, a length of 8 cm, and a mass of 150 g.
How far will the boat sink into liquid with a density of 1.2 g/mL? Check your answer.

3.125 cm
[150 g ÷ 1.2 g/mL = 125 mL of displaced water. 125 cm3 ÷ 40 cm2 = 3.125 cm deep.]
 Activity C: Get the Gizmo ready:
Weight and  Click Reset, and turn off Magnify waterline.
buoyancy  Set the Width, Length, and Height to 10.0 cm.
Introduction: When a boat is placed in liquid, two forces act on the boat. Gravity pulls the boat
down with a force equal to the weight of the boat. Weight is measured in newtons (N). To
calculate the weight of a boat, multiply its mass in grams by 0.00982.

As the boat sinks into the liquid, the liquid pushes back. The force of the liquid pushing up on
the boat is called the buoyant force.

Question: How do gravity and the buoyant force affect a boat?

1. Observe: Turn on Show data. Place four cubes in the boat.

A. What is the Boat weight? 1.96 N B. What is the Buoyant force? 1.96 N

C. What is the Net force on the boat? 0.00 N

2. Analyze: Try dragging the boat up or down. Pay attention to the Buoyant force.

A. What happens to the buoyant force when the boat is pulled down? Increases

B. Why do you think this happens? Answers will vary.

[The buoyant force is equal to the weight of displaced water. If you push down on the
boat, the amount of displaced water increases.]

C. What happens to the buoyant force when the boat is lifted up? Decreases

D. Why do you think this happens? Answers will vary.

[The buoyant force is equal to the weight of displaced water. If you lift up on the
boat, the amount of displaced water decreases.]

3. Explore: Answer the following questions by dragging the boat up or down in the liquid.

A. What happens to the boat when its weight is greater than the buoyant force?

The boat sinks down.

B. What happens to the boat when its weight is less than the buoyant force?

The boat floats up.

C. What happens to the boat when its weight is equal to the buoyant force?

The boat remains still, floating on the liquid.

(Activity C continued on next page)

Activity C (continued from previous page)

4. Observe: Click Reset. Set the Liquid density to 1.0 g/mL. Add a 50-g cube to the boat.

A. What is the weight of the boat? 0.49 N

B. What is the mass of the displaced liquid in the graduated cylinder? 50 g

C. What is the weight of the displaced liquid? 0.49 N

(Hint: If the mass is measured in grams, w = m • 0.00982.)

D. What is the Buoyant force on the boat? 0.49 N

5. Predict: What do you think is the relationship between the buoyant force and the weight of

displaced liquid? Predictions will vary.

6. Collect data: As you add cubes to the boat, record the boat’s weight, the mass of displaced
liquid in the graduated cylinder, the weight of displaced liquid, and the buoyant force.

Boat weight
Mass of displaced Weight of displaced
Number (N) Buoyant
liquid (g) liquid (N)
of cubes (mass * force (N)
(mass of boat) (mass * 0.00982)
0.00982)
2 0.98 N 100 g 0.98 N 0.98 N
3 1.47 N 150 g 1.47 N 1.47 N
4 1.96 N 200 g 1.96 N 1.96 N

7. Analyze: What do you notice?

The boat weight, weight of displaced liquid, and buoyant force are all equal.

8. Make a rule: Archimedes’ principle states that an object is pushed up by a buoyant force

that is equal to the weight of the displaced liquid.

9. Apply: A hollow ball weighs 40 newtons. In a water tank, it displaces 15 newtons of water.

A. What is the buoyant force on the ball? 15 newtons

B. Will the ball float or sink? Explain your reasoning.

The ball will sink because it has a weight that is greater than the weight of displaced water.
 Get the Gizmo ready:
Extension:
 Click Reset. Check that Show data is turned off.
Sinking boats  Set the Width, Length, and Height to 5.0 cm.
 Be sure the Liquid density is set to 1.0 g/mL.

Question: What are the forces on a sinking boat?

1. Observe: Place three 50-g cubes into the boat. What happens? The boat fills with water

and sinks to the bottom of the tank.

2. Calculate: Notice that the boat has filled up with water and sunk to the bottom. In this
model, the walls of the boat are very thin. Therefore, the volume of water displaced by the
boat is equal to the volume of water displaced by the cubes.

A. Each cube is 2 cm × 2 cm × 2 cm. What is the volume of each cube? 8 cm3

B. What is the total volume of cubes in the boat? 24 cm3

C. If the water density is 1.0 g/mL, what is the mass of displaced water? 24 g
(1.0 g/ml * 24 ml)
D. What is the weight of displaced water? (Recall w = m • 0.00982) 0.236 N
(24 * 0.00982)
E. What is the buoyant force on the boat? 0.236 N
Same as the weight of displaced water
F. What is the mass and weight of the boat? Mass: 150 g Weight: 1.473 N
(water weight = 150 * 0.00982)
G. What is the net force on the boat? (Hint: Downward force is negative.) –1.237 N
(buoyant force - weight or 0.236 N – 1.473 N = -1.237 N)
Turn on Show data to check your answers to parts E, F, and G. Recheck your calculations if
necessary.

3. Apply: A valuable statuette from a Greek shipwreck lies at the bottom of the
Mediterranean Sea. The statuette has a mass of 10,566 g and a volume of 4,064 cm3. The
density of seawater is 1.03 g/mL.

A. What is the weight of the statuette? 103.76 N

(10,566 g * 0.00982 = 103.76 N)
B. What is the mass of displaced water? 4,185.92 g
(volume * density or 4,064 cm3 * 1.03 g/ml = 4,185.92 g)
C. What is the weight of displaced water? 41.11 N
(4,185.92 g * 0.00982)
D. What is the buoyant force on the statuette? 41.11 N
(buoyant force = weight of displaced liquid)
E. What is the net force on the statuette? –62.65 N
(41.11 N – 103.76 N = -62.65 N)
F. How much force would be required to lift the statuette? > 62.65 N
Need to look at the net force; what is required to make it above zero