LAB REPORT

FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICS 1
PHY130
LAB 5
ARCHIMEDES PRINCIPLES

LECTURER: SIR BAKTIAR BIN MUSA

DATE: 4th DECEMBER 2023

NO NAME STUDENT NUMBER

1. NAZURAH AQILAH BINTI MOHD NAZRI 2023844648

2. NURKAMILIA QISTINA BINTI JAMAL ABDUL NASIR 2023840102

3 NUR RAIHAN BINTI ZULKIFLI 2023285552

4 NUR QISTINA ZULAIKHA BINTI MOHD REDZUAN 2023842416

Objectives
i) To find the buoyant force of an object.
ii) To determine the density of the fluid.

Apparatus
Newton scale, meter ruler, retort stand, beaker, steel cylinder, wooden
cylinder, water and liquid X.

Theory
According to Archimedes Principle, the buoyant force, FB of an object wholly and
partially submerged in a fluid is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the
object.
FB = Wfluid displaced = ρfluid Vobject g
(1)

Where
flui
d
= density of the fluid
Vobject = the volume of the object that is submerged
= the volume of the fluid displaced by the object g
= the acceleration due to gravity

For object weighted in air, its weight is W mobject g object Vobject g w , when the
object wholly or partially submerged in a fluid, its apparent weight, Wapparent is less
than its real weight because of the buoyant force.
W=Wapparent +FB
FB W Wapparent
(2)

Since the volume is equal to the cross-sectional area, A multiplied by the submerged
height, h the buoyant force is given by
FB fluidA g h
(3)
So, if the object is lowered into the fluid while the buoyant force is measured, a graph
of the FB versus h will give a straight line having a slope which is proportional to the
density of the
Fluid

Procedures
i. Attach the Newton scale to a retort stand.

ii. Record the dimension of the object (length and radius).

iii. Hang the object to the Newton scale and record its weight, W.

iv. Pour 800 ml of water into the beaker and place the beaker below the hanging
object.

v. To immerse the object, lower the spring by adjusting the clamp. Increase the
amount submerged by increments of 1 cm, each time records the weight of object in
Table 1. Continue until the cylinder is fully submerged.

vi. Tabulate results obtain in Table 1.

vii. Repeat steps i to vi using liquid X instead of water.

RESULT AND DATA ANALYSIS

(Black steel)
Radius, R = 0.057m; Length, L = 0.0487m; Area, A = 4.67x10-⁵m²;
Object weighted in air, W =1.10N

(White steel)
Radius, R = 0.588m; Length, L = 0.0498m; Area, A =2.71x10-⁵m² ;
Object weighted in air, W =0.40N

TABLE 1 WATER
 Table 1.1 (Black steel)

NO Submerged height, h Apparent weight, wapparent Buoyant force, FB

(cm) (g) (N)

1 0 1.3
2 1 1.29
3 2 1.22
4 3 1.20
5 4 1.16
6 5 1.15
7 6 1.10
67

Table 1.2 (White Steel)

NO Submerged height, h Apparent weight, wapparent Buoyant force, FB

(cm) (g) (N)

1 0 0.50
2 1 0.45
3 2 0.40
4 3 0.35
5 4 0.32
6 5 0.30
7 6 0.29
67
 TABLE 2 LIQUID X

Table 2.1 (Black)

NO Submerged height, h Apparent weight, wapparent Buoyant force, FB

(cm) (g) (N)

1 0 1,30
2 1 1.29
3 2 1.26
4 3 1.21
5 4 1.20
6 5 1.18
7 6 1.15

Table 2.2 (White)

NO Submerged height, h Apparent weight, wapparent Buoyant force, FB
(cm) (g) (N)

1 0 0.48
2 1 0.48
3 2 0.41
4 3 0.36
5 4 0.33
6 5 0.31
7 6 0.27

i. Plot the graph of FB versus h for all of the tables

ii. Determine the cross-sectional area, A of the object.
iii. Calculate the gradient of all of the graphs in each case.

Discussions
i. Calculate the density of water and liquid X by using equation (3).

ii. Compare the calculated value in (i) with theoretical value.

iii. Calculate the percentage discrepancies for this experiment. Explain.

CONCLUSION

The conclusion for the experiment is we study about archimedes principle in both
magnitude and concept. We proved that the buoyant force is greater for the heavier
objects. If the object is denser than the fluid, we found out that the object would have
a downward acceleration, therefore sinking. If the object is less dense than the fluid,
we found out that the object would instead float or rise. After testing buoyant force by
the displacement, we found out that all the objects we measured would have a
downward acceleration because the object’s weight is more than the buoyant force.
Although the buoyant force for both equations should be the same, we found out that
they were not equal, and this was probably due to the errors in the experiment.