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Experiment 205

Archimedes Principle
PHY11L / B3 / Group 2
Janolino, Bryan Austin H.

Abstract

The experiment made use of the
hydrometer in order to study Archimedes
principle. And to apply Archimedes
principle in determining the density and
specific gravity of solids and liquids.

I. Introduction

Archimedes principle, physical law
of buoyancy, discovered by the ancient
Greek mathematician and inventor
Archimedes, stating that any body
completely or partially submerged in a fluid
(gas or liquid) at rest is acted upon by an
upward, or buoyant, force the magnitude of
which is equal to the weight of the fluid
displaced by the body. The volume of
displaced fluid is equivalent to the volume
of an object fully immersed in a fluid or to
that fraction of the volume below the surface
for an object partially submerged in a liquid.
The weight of the displaced portion of the
fluid is equivalent to the magnitude of the
buoyant force. The buoyant force on a body
floating in a liquid or gas is also equivalent
in magnitude to the weight of the floating
object and is opposite in direction; the object
neither rises nor sinks. For example, a ship
that is launched sinks into the ocean until the
weight of the water it displaces is just equal
to its own weight.

II. Theory

Density is a characteristic physical
property of a substance. This means that no
two materials have the same density.
Density is mathematically defined as


Where: = density of the material
m = mass of the material
v = volume of the material
The unit of density is kg/m
3
in MKS units
and g/cm
3
in cgs units.

Specific gravity is defined as the weight of
the body compared with an equal amount of
pure water at 4 degrees Celsius (4 C is the
temperature at which water is densest). It
also tells the number of times a certain
material is denser than water.

Specific gravity has no unit. The specific
gravity of a substance is the ratio of that
substance to the density of water.
Mathematically:



Where: SG
s
= specific gravity of a substance
P
s
= density of the substance
P
w
= density of the water


III. Methodology
A. Setup













B. Materials

1 pc platform balance
1 pc hydrometer
1 set weights
2 pcs 250-ml graduated cylinder
3 pcs 250-ml beaker
1 pc cork
1 m string
2 pcs metal specimen

C. Procedure

A. Determining the Specific Gravity of an
Unknown Solid Sample Heavier than
Water

First, the group hanged the first metal
sample at one side of a platform balance and
find its weight in air W
a.
. After finding its
weight the group submerged the sample
completely in a beaker of water and measure
its weight while it is in water W
w
. The group
computed for the loss of weight of the
sample by the equation: loss of weight of
water = W
A
W
W
. Then the group
determined the specific gravity by using the
equation: SG = W
A
/ W
A
W
W
. The said
procedures were repeated using the second
sample. After re-doing the procedures with
the new samples the group then compared
the experimental values with the actual
values and then they identify the samples
used.

B. Determining the Specific Gravity of an
Unknown Liquid Sample

As of Part 2 of the experiment, the group
chose one of the metal samples used in part
A, its weight in the air W
A
was used in this
part. The group then submerged the metal
completely in the first liquid sample and
recorded its weight in the liquid, W
L
. The
group then computed for the loss of weight
of the body in the liquid with the equation:
loss of weight of body in liquid = W
A
W
L
.
After determining the loss of weight of body
in liquid the group then computed for its
specific gravity by the equation SG = W
A
-
W
L
/ W
A
W
W
. The said procedures are then
repeated by the group using the second
liquid samples. They compared the
experimental values and actual values found
in table 1. After comparing they identified
the liquid samples. Then the group
transferred the liquids into two separate
thoroughly dried graduated cylinders to
proceed for the next part.

C. Determining the Specific Gravity of an
Unknown Liquid Sample using a
Hydrometer

The results in Part B are verified using a
hydrometer.

A hydrometer consists of a weighted
float and a calibrated stem that protrudes
from the liquid when the float is entirely
immersed. A higher specific gravity will
result in a greater length of the stem above
the surface, while a lower specific gravity
will cause the hydrometer to float lower.

D. Determining the Specific Gravity of a
Solid Lighter than Water

The group then obtained a piece of cork and
measured its weight W
A
. They chose one of
the metal samples used in part A and used it
as a sinker. They hanged the cork from a
string and hanged the sinker just below it.
The group computed for the weight with just
the sinker under water W
CA-SW
and with both
sinker and cork under water, W
(S+C)W
. The
group computed for the loss of weight of the
cork by the equation loss of weight of cork =
W
CA-SW
W
(S+C)W
. After computing for the
loss of weight of cork the group then
computed the corks specific gravity by the
equation: SG = W/ W
CA-SW
W
(S+C)W
.

IV. References

General Physics 2 Laboratory
Manual
Principles of Physics 9
th
Edition by
Halliday, Resnick and Walker
http://www.wikipedia.org

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