Republic of the Philippines

Commission on Higher Education

Region V
BAAO COMMUNITY COLLEGE
San Juan, Baao, Camarines Sur
E-mail: baaocommunitycollege@gmail.com
Telefax (054) 455-7015

NAME: VENANCIO, FRANZ A. SUBJECT: PHYSICS - FLUID MECHANICS DATE:

YEAR AND SECTION: BSEd 3B INSTRUCTOR: MRS. SHELLA SUÑAZ

Activity Sheet
Constructing a Cartesian Diver
The standard Cartesian diver is made from a plastic medicine dropper known as a pipette and
a hex nut. Screw the hex nut onto the base of the pipette as shown below, several turns
of the hex nut should be sufficient to hold it in place.

Cut off all but ¼ of an inch of the pipette stem. This is the standard diver.

Place the diver in a cup of water, making sure that the water in the cup is at least four inches
deep. Notice that the diver floats. Why? While the diver is still in the water, squeeze the
bulb of the pipette to force air out and release pressure to draw water up into the diver.
Continue squeezing air out and drawing water up into the diver until the pipette is about
half full of water. Let go of the diver and see if it still floats in the water. When properly
adjusted, the diver should just barely float in the cup of water. If the diver sinks to the
bottom, squeeze out a few drops of water and retest.
 Republic of the Philippines
Commission on Higher Education
Region V
BAAO COMMUNITY COLLEGE
San Juan, Baao, Camarines Sur
E-mail: baaocommunitycollege@gmail.com
Telefax (054) 455-7015

Carefully transfer the diver to the soda bottle that is full to the brim with water. Be careful
not to accidentally lose any of the water in the diver when you are transferring it to the
soda bottle. Place the cap on the bottle.

Use both hands to squeeze the sides of the bottle. You may have to squeeze hard depending
on how you adjusted the water level inside the diver. Watch the diver sink when you
squeeze the bottle, or float when you release it.

Activity Sheet
Buoyancy and the Cartesian Diver

1. Add a few drops of food coloring to the small plastic cup filled with water and stir.

2. Squeeze out all of the water in your diver and replace it with the colored water in the cup.

3. Just as before, make sure the diver barely floats in the cup, and then add the diver to the
full soda bottle. Screw on the soda bottle cap.

4. Make a prediction—what will happen as you squeeze the bottle?

 When you squeeze a bottle containing a Cartesian diver, the pressure inside the bottle
increases, causing the volume of air inside the diver's bulb to decrease. This
decreases the overall density of the diver, making it less dense than the surrounding
water, causing it to rise towards the surface. Releasing the pressure causes the
volume of air inside the diver's bulb to increase, making it more dense than the
surrounding water, causing it to sink back down to the bottom of the bottle. In
summary, squeezing the bottle causes the diver to rise, and releasing the pressure
causes the diver to sink back down.
 Republic of the Philippines
Commission on Higher Education
Region V
BAAO COMMUNITY COLLEGE
San Juan, Baao, Camarines Sur
E-mail: baaocommunitycollege@gmail.com
Telefax (054) 455-7015

5. Squeeze and release the bottle a few times and observe what has happened. What does
this tell you about the water?
 When you squeeze the bottle, you increase the pressure of the water in the bottle, so
water is forced up into the straw compressing the air bubble in the straw. As the air
bubble gets smaller, the density of the diver increases and the diver begins to sink. When
you release the bottle, the pressure lessens and the water moves back out of the straw.
The air bubble in the straw returns to its original size causing the diver to become less
dense and float back to the top of the bottle.

6. Based on your above answers and your knowledge of buoyancy, can you make any
predictions about how the Cartesian diver works?
 A Cartesian diver is a small figurine made of glass or plastic that appears to dive or rise
in a container of water as pressure is applied to the container. The diver is made up of a
hollow tube with a bulb on one end and a small weight inside the bulb. The phenomenon is
based on the principle of buoyancy, where the weight inside the bulb initially has greater
density than the surrounding water, causing the diver to sink to the bottom of the
container. As pressure is applied to the container, the volume of air inside the diver
decreases, making its overall density less than the surrounding water, causing it to float
upwards. When the pressure is released, the air inside the diver expands, increasing its
overall density, causing it to sink back down.