Dan Glickman 2/5/14 Alexa Madsen Yusuf Jackson

Penny Float, Penny Sink

Background Information: Cargo ships carry large amounts of cargo over large bodies of water. The boats are designed with long and wide layouts providing maximum surface area. This creates a smaller water surface to weight ratio keeping heavier loads afloat because the average density of the boat is less than that of the body of water surrounding it, keeping it afloat. With this information in mind, the best penny boat would reflect on this design and provide as much surface area as possible. Purpose: The purpose of the penny boat experiment is to build a boat that will carry the most pennies without sinking. This will help to learn about the properties of buoyancy. Hypothesis: If the boat has more surface areas and high walls, then it will hold the most pennies, because the buoyant force acting upon the boat will be more than the force of gravity. Variables: The independent variable in this experiment was the structure of each boat. The dependent variable was the number of pennies the boat could hold before sinking.

Materials: 100+ pennies Five 6 by 6 squares of aluminum foil Large bucket Tap Water Paper Towel(s) Timer Camera Phone

Procedure: 1. The group gathered research on the design and structure of boats that carry large amounts of cargo. 2. The given materials were gathered. 3. Using the knowledge and materials, the initial boat was built. 4. Using the provided materials, initial boat was planned and built. a. Using the 6 by 6 tinfoil square, each side of the tinfoil was folded roughly 1 in creating a 4 square on the inside with 1 walls. b. The 4 corners were pinched at the corners creating 1 high walls and an enclosed space for dropping in pennies. c. With the boat completed the boat was ready to be tested 5. A picture of the boat was taken before proceeding to the experiment. 6. The tub was filled with tap water until it was deemed high enough so that eventually the boat will sink. 7. The boat was placed in the middle of the tub, not touching any side. 8. A penny was placed into the boat at each 3-second interval until the boat sank. 9. The pennies in the boat were counted and recorded except for the penny that sank the ship. 10. Steps 6-8 were repeated until all members of the group in question sank their boats and recorded the boats data.

11. Using information and data from the previous test, the group declared a winner and proceeded to improve the winning boats design based on its flaws. 12. More symmetrical and smoother walls were made along with smoothing the bottom, but the basic design of the boat remained the same. 13. A second picture of the group boat was taken before proceeding to the experiment. 14. The classs winning boat from each group was tested in steps 5-8 and an overall winner was declared. 15. A final picture was taken of the classs winning boat. Results: Figure 1: Figure 2: Figure 3:

Initial Boat/Group Boat

Class Competition Boat Figure 4:

Classs Winning Boat

Number of Pennies
100 80 60 40 20 0 Initial/Group Class Competition Class Winning Number of Pennies

Figure 5: Results of the Stages Original Boat Number of Pennies 70 pennies Group Boat 69 pennies Class Boat 93 pennies

Figure 6: Results of the Group Alexa Number of Pennies 11 pennies Seth 19 pennies Dan 70 pennies

Both the scientists initial boat and the groups boat were very similar in design. The fold and making were the same however the uniformity and parallelism was more defined in the group boat than in the scientists initial boat. The class winning boat however, was different in size and shape as it was a more rounded and basin like structure. The class boat held 93 pennies before sinking as water came over the walls and it sank. The class competition boat held 69 pennies and also sank because water came over the walls and sank it. The initial and group winning boat held 70 pennies and sank when it concaved on itself and sank before the water came over the walls. Discussion: During the experiment, the boat was expected to sink as the downward force of gravity overcame the density of the body of water surrounding it. Using the properties of density, pennies were placed into a tinfoil boat in order to see how much weight of the given structure of each boat would overcome the density of the body of water and sink the boat. The boats in each round of experiment were tested and expected to hold more pennies as the surface area was increased whilst walls remained relatively high. The research showed that ships that carry large amount of cargo are designed with large surface areas and so the tinfoil boat reflected this design and was expected to carry large amounts of cargo (pennies) as well.

According to the hypothesis, the boat will hold the most pennies if it has more surface area and high walls. Within the groups experiment, both Alexas and Seths boat held much less pennies than Dans boat because the surface area and walls of Dans boat exceeded those of Alexas and Seths. According to Figure 6, Dans boat held 51 more pennies than Seth and 59 more pennies than Alexa. The data showed that a boat with more surface area and higher walls will hold more pennies because the buoyant force is greater than that of a boat with less surface area and/or lower walls. Though Figures 1 and 2 held large amounts of pennies, Figure 3 held the most because the shape provided surface area along with walls angled outward creating a natural pocket preventing water from overcoming the edge. The surface area was a key part in the floating and therefore showed the first part of the hypothesis to be correct, and although the walls were high, an extra factor in the elongated floating and holding capacity of the boat were the angled walls. These walls both repelled water from overcoming the edge whilst being high enough that water would not overcome the edge as it would if there had been a low wall as seen in Figure 3. During the experiment(s), the placement of pennies affected the amount of weight the boat was able to hold before sinking. The placement of pennies affects the results of the experiment as the distribution and penny to surface area ratio is upset and causes a source of error. If one area of the boat or one side has a surplus of pennies and the opposite side has less or no pennies, the density of the different areas of the boat will be out of balance and the boat will sink before the boat can hold full capacity because one sides density has surpassed that of 1 g/ml whilst the other side had less than the waters density meaning the uneven distribution caused the boat to sink unlike a boat with the same amount of pennies, however they would be distributed and placed equally creating a universal density less than that of the water around it. In redesigning the boat, for a third time, the most opportune way to increase the number of pennies able to be held before sinking would reflect that of Figure 3 as the boat held a surplus of any other boat in both Figures 4-6. This would mean the improved boat would reflect that of a dome with convex walls resembling

a basin though still having necessary wall height and surface area so that it will not succumb to water as it overcomes the wall until the tinfoil can hold no more weight naturally.

Conclusion: The purpose of the Penny Boat Lab was to demonstrate and measure the properties of density, which was achieved through the use of tinfoil, pennies, tub, timer, and water. The lab showed that through maximized surface area and height of wall, more pennies could be held in an enclosed boat rather than that of lesser surface area or height of wall. The walls angles and shape also proved to hold more pennies when at a rough 75 angle of wall maintaining height whilst creating a barrier repelling water underneath the overpassing wall. During the experiment, a source of error that may have affected the experiment was the impurities in the design itself and unsymmetrical small changes between the uniformity of an exact measurement. However, the pennies and water remained a constant, though a slight error that may have occurred in the experiment was the condition of the pennies, wet or not, that could have affected the rate at which the boat sank. To make the results more reliable would be to perform more tests so that beyond a reasonable doubt an educated assumption could be made and could be more accurately with the more trials that took place. I have completed this lab in accordance with the Newark Academy Honor Code. X_______________________________________________________________________________________________