Abstract

The experiment tries to deal about the great work of Archimedes’ principle which is a law that state
“anybody completely or partially submerged in a fluid at rest is acted upon by buoyant force whose
magnitude is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the body.” In this experiment we used
overflow method, direct measurement of mass and displacement method to study and apply
Archimedes principle in determining the density of an object.

Purpose

The purpose of this lab experiment was to study buoyant force as a function of submersed volume and
to verify and use Archimedes’ principle to determine the densities of a sample.

Materials

Item Quantity

Triple-beam balance with spring 1

Graduated Cylinder 1

Pipette 1

Brass cylinder 1

Overflow container 1

Spouted can 1

Wood board 1

Paper towels 1

Water

Introduction
When an object is placed in fluid of any kind it either sinks to the bottom or floats on
the top of it. This is because of an upward force called buoyancy. This physical
phenomenon can be explained by Archimedes principle which states:
Archimedes’ Principle
“A body wholly or partially immersed in a fluid is buoyed up by a force equal in
magnitude to the weight of the fluid displaced by the body.”
 Depending on the density of the fluid and object there are three possible cases which
can occur, , the object that has a higher density than water will sink, the object’s that
has density equals to density of water will suspended anywhere within that fluid and
the object that has a lighter density than the fluid will float.

When an object is placed in

fluid of any kind it either sinks
to the bottom or floats on top of
it.
This phenomenon can be
explained using Newton’s laws
of motion which state that a net
force must be
pushing the object either
upwards or downwards. With
respect to fluids, this net force
always pushes up
and is therefore called the
buoyant force. Said buoyant
force is defined as the force of
the weight of the
fluid an object displaces and is
known as Archimedes’
principle.
When an object is placed in
fluid of any kind it either sinks
to the bottom or floats on top of
it.
This phenomenon can be
explained using Newton’s laws
of motion which state that a net
force must be
pushing the object either
upwards or downwards. With
respect to fluids, this net force
always pushes up
and is therefore called the
buoyant force. Said buoyant
force is defined as the force of
the weight of the
fluid an object displaces and is
known as Archimedes’
principle.
When an object is placed in
fluid of any kind it either sinks
to the bottom or floats on top of
it.
This phenomenon can be
explained using Newton’s laws
of motion which state that a net
force must be
pushing the object either
upwards or downwards. With
respect to fluids, this net force
always pushes up
and is therefore called the
buoyant force. Said buoyant
force is defined as the force of
the weight of the
fluid an object displaces and is
known as Archimedes’
principle.
When an object is placed in
fluid of any kind it either sinks
to the bottom or floats on top of
it.
This phenomenon can be
explained using Newton’s laws
of motion which state that a net
force must be
pushing the object either
upwards or downwards. With
respect to fluids, this net force
always pushes up
and is therefore called the
buoyant force. Said buoyant
force is defined as the force of
the weight of the
fluid an object displaces and is
known as Archimedes’
principle.
When an object is placed in
fluid of any kind it either sinks
to the bottom or floats on top of
it.
This phenomenon can be
explained using Newton’s laws
of motion which state that a net
force must be
pushing the object either
upwards or downwards. With
respect to fluids, this net force
always pushes up
and is therefore called the
buoyant force. Said buoyant
force is defined as the force of
the weight of the
fluid an object displaces and is
known as Archimedes’
principle. Depending on the
density of the fluid
In this experiment, buoyant force was investigated using the following three methods:
(i) Direct Measurement of Mass
(ii) Displacement Method
(iii) Overflow Method

When an object is submerged in water its weight decreases/lighten/ by an amount

equal to the buoyant force. The method of the direct measurement of mass will measure
the mass of an object first in air and then in water. The buoyant force (FB) is equal to:

FB = W – W’= (m – m’)g

Where W is the weight in air (W= mg)

W’ is the weight in water (W’=m'g)

The displacement method requires measurement of the volume of fluid displaced by
the object. The weight of the fluid displaced is equal to the buoyant force exerted on the
object. Thus, the buoyant force is given by:

FB= ρVdipg
Where ρ is the density

Vdip is the volume of fluid displaced by the object

g is the acceleration due to gravity

Prediction

If the brass sank in to the water then the density of brass is greater than density of water orbthe reverse
may be true and if the density of brass equals to the density of water the it will suspend somewhere in
the water.

Method

Part I Overflow method

1, we measured the mass of the brass cylinder in air and determined its weight.

2, we measured the mass of the overflow container using digital balance

3, we filled the spouted can with water and arranged the overflow container so that the water pours
into the overflow container.

4, then we fully submerged the brass cylinder in the water and collected the displaced water with the
overflow container.

5, we measured the mass of the overflow container and calculated the mass and weight of the displaced
water which is the buoyant force. Fb=ρwVdisp g we also measured volume of displaced water in
the graduated cylinder.

6, finally, we calculated the density of brass:

ρbrass = mbrass/Vbrass = ρw Wbrass/Fband determined error in percentage

Part II Direct measurement of mass

7, we set the triple beam balance and noted the least count

8, we suspended the brass cylinder from a string attached to the balance and measured its mass.

9, we partially filled the overflow container with water and immersed the brass cylinder without it
touching the container.

10, then we determined the buoyance force by Wbrass – W’brass

11, finally we calculated the density of brass using ρbrass = mbrass/Vbrass = ρw Wbrass/Fband
determined error in percentage.

Part III Displacement Method

12, we partially filled the graduated cylinder with water and observed the water level as Vi

13, we immersed the brass cylinder and noted the new water level as Vf

14, then calculated the volume of the brass cylinder by Vf– Vi

15, we determined the buoyance force by Fb=ρwVdisp g

16, density of brass calculated by ρbrass = mbrass/Vbrass = ρw Wbrass/Fb
17, we repeated our measurement two more times and noted them as trial 1,2 and 3 in each method.

Over flow method data analysis

Lab temperature 20℃ density of tap water (kg/m3) 998.21

Mass/weight of Mass/volume of displaced water Buoyant Density of error

brass cylinder force brass

M(kg) Wbrass(N Mi (kg) Mf (kg) mf-mi Vdiss FB(N) Ρbrass In%

Trial

) (kg) (m3) (kg/m3)

1 0.0398 0.3904 0.0464 0.0507 0.0043 5*10-6 0.0422 7960

2 0.0397 0.3895 0.0466 0.0509 0.0043 5*10-6 0.0422 7940

3 0.0397 0.3895 0.0465 0.0507 0.0042 5*10-6 0.0412 7940

mean 0.0397 0.3895 0.0465 0.0507 0.0043 5*10-6 0.0419 7950

Direct measurement method data analysis

Lab temperature 20℃ density of tap water (kg/m3) 998.21

Mass/weight of Mass/weight of brass cylinder in Buoyant Density of error

brass cylinder in waterv force brass
air

M(kg) Wbrass(N) M`i (kg) W`brass (N) FB(N)=Wbrass - Ρbrass In%

Trial

Wbrass (kg/m3)

1 0.0398 0.3904 0.0361 0.3541 0.0363 7960

2 0.0397 0.3895 0.0360 0.3531 0.0364 7940

3 0.0397 0.3895 0.0360 0.3531 0.0364 7940

mean 0.0397 0.3895 0.0360 0.3534 0.0364 7950

Displacement method data analysis

Lab temprature 20℃ density of tap water(kg/m3) 998.21

Mass/weight of Volume of water in graduated Buoyant Density of error

brass cylinder cylinder force brass
in air

M(kg) Wbrass(N Vi Vf (m3) Vdip (m3) FB(N)=Wbrass - Ρbrass In%

Trial

) (m3) Wbrass (kg/m3)

1 0.0398 0.3904 8*10-5 8.5*10-5 5*10-6 0.0489 7960

2 0.0397 0.3895 9*10-5 9.5*10-5 5*10-6 0.0489 7940

3 0.0397 0.3895 9.5*10-5 1.0*10-6 5*10-6 0.0489 7940

mean 0.0397 0.3895 8.83*10-5 9.3*10-5 5*10-6 0.0489 7950

Sample calculation

Over flow method

Accepted density of brass =8400kg/m3

Weight of brass=Wbrass =mg=0.0397kg * 10m/s2 =0.397N

Buoyant force = FB =ρWVdispg=1000kg/m3 *5*10-6m3 * 10m/s2 =0.050N

Density = mbrass/Vbrass=0.0397kg/5*10-6m3= 7950kg/m3
%error =100%( accepted value -measured value)/accepted value=100%(( 8400-7950)/8400)=5.4%

Direct measurement method

Accepted density of brass =8400kg/m3

Weight of brass=Wbrass =mg=0.0397kg * 10m/s2 =0.397N

Buoyant force = FB =Wbrass– W’brass=0.3895-0.3534=0.0364N

Volume of brass= vdip =Fb/ρWg=0.0364N/1000kg/m (10m/s =3.64*10

3 2 _6
m3

Density = mbrass/Vbrass=0.0397kg/3.64*10_6 m3 =10960kg/m3

%error =100%( accepted value -measured value)/accepted value=100%(( 8400-9082)/8400)=8.1%

Displacement method

Accepted density of brass =8400kg/m3

Weight of brass=Wbrass =mg=0.0356kg * 10m/s2 =0.356N

Buoyant force = FB =ρWVdispg=1000kg/m3 *4*10-6m3 * 10m/s2 =0.04N

Density = mbrass/Vbrass=0.356kg/4*10-6m^2=8900kg/m3
%error =100%( accepted value -measured value)/accepted value=100%((8900- 8400)/8400)=6%

Discussion

The experiment shows the density of the brass is greater than the density of water, and we know that
buoyant force is a force that affects the real (air) weight of the object because the brass cylinder had
lower weight when it is sank in the water.

The buoyant force is calculated in three different methods with three trials in each method.

In the over flow method of experiment the buoyant force calculated as a product of density of water
volume of displaced water (volume over flowed from the spouted can when the brass submerged to it)
and gravitational acceleration.

In the direct measurement method of experiment the buoyance force calculated directly by using the
formula FB=wbrass - W'brass .

In the displacement method of experiment in which the density is more accurate than the other the
buoyant force calculated using the formula FB =ρvdip g , but here the volume measured directly in
graduated cylinder. All the three method lack accuracy, but the third one is more accurate when
compared to other methods. The inaccuracy occurred because of some error in measurement like
parallax error when measuring the volume and other systematic error.
Conclusion

after we demonstrated this experiment, we were determined that the weight loss is equal to the weight
of displaced liquid and these made us the loss weight is due to buoyancy or buoyant force. However,
during the conduction of the experiment, some human mistakes may have affected the final results
causing a higher percent error. The weight loss seems to be affected by one factor. This factor may be
the density of the solution and object. The density of an object will determine the buoyant force acting
upon the object.

QUESTIONS

Sketch a free-body diagram for an object that is floating in water. How much water does it displace?
Does it displace its volume in water? Does it displace its weight in water?

Footing object submerged object

It displaces water equal to its weight of the submerged part. It displaces the submerged part volume of
the object submerged. The weight of the liquid displaced by the immersed part of the body must be
equal to the weight of the body. The amount of water displaced equal to the weight to the displacing
object

Sketch a free-body diagram for an object that is submerged in water. How much water does it displace?
Does it displace its volume in water? Does it displace its weight in water?

It displaces water equal to the volume of the body. And yes it does displace its

A nugget gold and a block of aluminum of the same volume are immersed in water. Which object
experiences the greater buoyant force?

Since gold has greater density therefore greater mass than aluminum it will experience greater buoyant
force.

A ship made of steel(ρsteel =7.8×103kg/m3 will float in water. Explain, in terms of densities, how this is
possible.

Because they are hollow. The vast majority of the volume of a ship is empty air since air-filled buoyancy
chambers are built into them. This contributes to buoyancy. The larger volume of the ship, displaces
more water so up thrust is more. This makes the ship less dense than the volume of water it occupies,
thus enabling it to float.

A ship at a sea port is taken out of the water. Does the water at the shore rise, fall, or stay at the same
level? Explain, in terms of Archimedes’ principle(density, volume, or weight),why this happens.

It will fall because when the ship is taken out of water

Reference

Mesfin Tadesse(Dr.) , lab report format.

Daniel O., Joseph U., Harrison O. and Ambrose E.(2017). Archimedes Principle and the Law of FloatDavid
H. Loyd. (2013). Physics laboratory manual (fourth edition.). Cengage learning.

ation.

Raymond A.S. and Chris V.(2018). College Physics. 11ed. Boston, USA: Cengage Learning. Articles.

Mohazzabi, P. (2017). Archimedes’ Principle Revisited. Journal of Applied Mathematics and Physics.

Jeffrey B. and Eric K. (2003). Reconsidering Archimedes’ Principle. The Physics Teacher.