Archimedes: His Life, Inventions, and Work

Eric Cao
MAT 306
03-10-11
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Archimedes was born on 287B.C. in the city of Syracuse on the island of Sicily, Greece.

His father was an astronomer named Phidias, also living in Syracuse. Before Archimedes’ birth,

his parents were related to the royal family of Syracuse, King Hieron. As Archimedes grew into

adulthood, he had been one of King Hieron’s most closely relied on person. King Hieron put

Archimedes to the test by challenging him to move a massive boat with his bare hands. King

Hieron knew that it took at least ten strong men to haul the boat and had highly doubted

Archimedes in this task since he only excelled in studying. Archimedes constructed a multi-

pulley system to multiply his force, and eventually, was able to move the ship single handedly.

One of his well known quotes is after explaining to King Hieron how the lever worked was

“Give me a place to stand on, and I will move the earth.” To this day, not much is known about

Archimedes’ life because of the lack of technology and recordings back then. Although not much

is known about his personal life, his amazing discoveries and inventions have been passed on,

generations after generations.

Archimedes worked on a piece that dealt with excessive large numbers such as 100

million, being equivalent to 108, and he called it The Sand Reckoner. After examining the size of

a sand grain, Archimedes stated that it would take 10,000 grains to fill up the space of a poppy

seed, and there would need to be 40 poppy seeds to roughly make up the length of a finger. In his

later work in On the Size and Distance of the Sun and Moon, Archimedes proposed that it would

take a little less than 1063 grains of sand.

One of the most profound books of Archimedes was the Measurement of a Circle.

Proposition 1 stated that the area of any circle is equal to a right-angled triangle in which one of

the sides about the right angle is equal to the radius, and the other to the circumference, of the

circle. The circle could be labeled as ABC and the right triangle is K. Circle ABC’s radius is
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equal to one edge of the right triangle. His second proposition states that the area of a circle is to

the square on its diameter as 11 to 14, very nearly. Archimedes’ third proposition states that the

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ratio of the circumference to any circle to its diameter is less than 3 but greater than 3 . This
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was proven by Archimedes initially from his hexagon to 12 sided to 24 to 48 to 96 sided

polygon, upper and lower bound.

One of Archimedes’ surviving works is the book On the Sphere and Cylinder, Books I

and II. Proposition 1 of Book one can be summed up to that if a polygon is circumscribed around

a circle, the perimeter of the polygon must be greater than that of the circle. This statement holds

true today since if a square with side of one unit is circumscribed around a circle, then the

perimeter around the square versus the circle would be 4:π. As you increase the number of sides

of the shape being circumscribed around the circle, that number will approach π, but never reach

it. This proposition is in our everyday lives; while walking down the road, cutting a corner down

the road will save you less time and energy, whereas if you were to walk around the path without

cutting the corner, more time and energy would be wasted. Proposition 3 states that if given two

unequal magnitudes and a circle, it is possible to inscribe a polygon in the circle and to describe

another about it so that the side of the circumscribed polygon may have to the side of the

inscribed polygon a ratio less than that of the greater magnitude to the less. If given any two

segments, then a circle can inscribe it. The property of a circle lets it inscribe any triangle,

whether it is an isosceles, equilateral, or scalene triangle. With the triangle describing the circle,

it is possible if the triangle is an isosceles triangle with its peak at the center. Its equivalent legs

are just past the circle’s arc and connecting it at the midpoint of the base. Proposition 7 states

that if in an isosceles cone a pyramid can be inscribed having an equilateral base, the surface of
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the pyramid excluding the base is equal to the triangle having its base equal to the perimeter of

the base of the pyramid and its height equal to the perpendicular drawn from the apex on the

one side of the base. This proposition holds true because if the base is an equilateral triangle, the

sides of the base are equal, that means that the altitudes of all three sides must also be equal,

hence its name, an equilateral triangle. Proposition 8 states that if a pyramid can be

circumscribed about an isosceles cone, the surface of the pyramid excluding its base is equal to

a triangle having its base equal to the perimeter of the base of the pyramid and its height equal

to the side of the cone. This proposition, also holding true since the base of a cone, being a circle,

is circumscribing the polygon is perpendicular to that side. All perpendiculars from the apex of

the cone to the base are all equivalent, resulting in proposition 8 staying true.

Archimedes had tons of inventions and discoveries throughout his lifetime for practical

applications. Many of which were requests from King Hieron since he had been the king’s close

friend for so long. One of which was the Archimedes’s screw when he visited Egypt. This is a

simple screw that looks somewhat like a drill bit in a hollow pipe, with a turn handle at one end

of it. This turns rotational mechanics into translational mechanics since the screw is being turned

clockwise or counter-clockwise, depending how the screw is threaded. Then the water being

contained by the screw and the hollow tube will move up the tube and through the upper

opening, and out to wherever the person needs it. Depending how the screw is threaded, it is

spun so that water is being brought from a low level to a higher level when placed slanted into a

source of water such as a lake or a pond. The screw inside the hollow pipe does not need to be

perfectly water tight; just relatively tight is fine and should do the job just as well. If the pipe is

not water tight when water is bring turned upwards, the water that cannot be held by the upper

screw will just drip to the next lower level, and then to the next lower level, and so on.
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Eventually since the amount of water being brought up is much more compared to the amount

being loss due to the screw not being tight enough, the screw not being completely water tight is

only a minor problem. In some other modified designs on the Archimedes’ screw, it has the

screw water tight and fixed to the hollow screw. This causes more work needed to be done since

the hollow tube is being required to be spun as well, as opposed to Archimedes’ way of just

having the screw spin in the middle. Although Archimedes version was not water tight, it

required less work since there is less rotating mass, whereas the modified version was water

tight, but required more work since there is more rotating mass; each version has its tradeoffs of

efficiency versus energy needed.

Some present day uses of the Archimedes’s screw are at Lakeside Equipment Company

in Memphis, Tennessee, Fred Hervey Water Reclamation Plant in El Paso, Texas, and at the J.U.

Smitgemaal in Kinderdijk, Holland. At Lakeside Equipment Company, there are seven

Archimedes’s screws, 2.44 meters in diameter, and can lift 19,900 gallons per minute. Fred

Hervey Reclamation Plant uses Archimedes’ screw to treat wastewater being injected into the

Hueco Bolson Aquifer at the rate of 10-million gallons per day. Finally, at the J.U. Smitgemaal

station, the diesel motor driven Archimedes screw transfers water at the rate of 1.35 million liters

per minute. Although Archimedes invented the his screw for the purpose of raising canal water

over levees into irrigated fields, his invention of it is still being use in present-day, two

millenniums later. Compared to his screw back then to the screws now, the screws now have

probably been modified and to be more efficient by having motors rotate the shaft as opposed to

human labor and for the screw to be close to water tight perfect.

King Hieron, Archimedes’ good and close friend, told him to build the king a weapon

that would keep the city of Syracuse safe. Archimedes then invented the claw, mainly referred to
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as “the Claw of Archimedes.” This was mainly a weapon to target ships to defend Syracuse’s

city walls from the attacking Romans. This weapon would be used mostly at night on ships

trying to sneak their ways into the city. The “claw” would grab the ship from below, hoist it, and

then suspend it in midair until the person commanding it chooses what is next. Mainly, when

ships are suspended in midair, it is then suddenly dropped, causing the ship to shatter into pieces,

or to tip over, and then eventually, fill up with water and then sink. This weapon was mainly

active against the Romans during the Second Punic War in 214B.C. when the Romans tried

invading Syracuse.

In addition to his invention of the Claw of Archimedes, he also invented the catapult to

also defend Syracuse from the Romans. His mechanism was used to launch stones over the walls

of Syracuse to destroy ships at a distance too far out the claw cannot reach. There were two

forms of catapults that Archimedes invented: one that requires pressure from the bucket, and the

other way is a weighted beam, which then rotates about a pivot point which then creates a

moment and then launches the stones at enemies. A vast amount of the Romans were so amazed

by this invention that they actually stole one of his catapults back to their homeland to make

duplicates of.

Back during the Second Punic War, Archimedes was also known for his “Heat Ray,” in

addition to the claw and the catapult. This was done by using many mirrors, placing them at a

certain angle to converge all of the sun’s rays onto a fixed object, or at an object moving slow

enough. Although legend has that ships have burnt down due to Archimedes’ “Heat Ray,” this is

only false, proven to be only a myth by both MIT students and the Mythbuster crew of the

Discovery Channel.
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The Mythbuster crew got their idea of challenging Archimedes’ Heat Ray by taking the

suggestion of President Obama. Although the Mythbuster crew has already “busted”

Archimedes’ Heat Ray a couple years back, President Obama had picked the Mythbuster to

“bust” the heat ray to motivate students across America to get more involved in science, math,

and engineering since this is really cool stuff. Both Hyneman and Savage of the Mythbuster crew

proved it wrong one more time, and it was again, “busted.”

The same situation with the Archimedes’ Heat Ray was built and tested by a group of six

MIT. All six students flew across the country to test out their experiment. The students made a

mock boat, decorated to look like the real deal, and let it dock in the harbor. This test used a

stunning total of 300 mirrors, lining up to be 110 feet long, to reflect and converge the sunrays at

the boat, which would be the Romans in 214B.C. The boat was docked and stationary for the

whole duration of the burn, not accounting for small wave movements throughout the water.

Surprisingly, the total burning time of ten minutes did not send the boat into flames and oblivion,

of course. The boat was only charred from one to two feet wide on the side being reflected to; the

burn on the boat’s side was very minimal. After a first round, the MIT students were confident

and wanted to try it again. The second time around had somewhat better results compared to the

first, but regardless, those results were ones that Archimedes would still not like to see. Second

time around, the converging rays charred up the boat’s side from to three to four feet in diameter.

The maximum depth the boat was burnt through was only a stunning ten inches. Ten inches in

over ten minutes is a pretty slow burn.

Archimedes’ most well known quote “Eureka, eureka,” meaning “I have found it, I have

found it” while running down the street naked originated when King Hieron assigned him the

task of seeing if the king’s golden crown was pure gold, or it was mixed with some other metal
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that the king did not know about. The story behind it lies that King Hieron assigned a goldsmith

to make his crown out of pure gold, since he was gaining power in Syracuse at the time. The

weight of the crown matched the weight of the gold that had been given to the goldsmith by the

king, but King Hieron still suspected that the goldsmith had cheated him out of it by replacing

the gold for some silver or some other metal. Since Archimedes had already been assigned many

tasks from the King, this was just another simple task from the king. Archimedes’ task was to

find out if the crown was pure gold like the king wanted, or if it has been altered and mixed,

making it not pure gold. After countless days of not showering and trying to figure out the

crown’s gold percentage, he is still clueless. One day after finally getting into a bathtub,

Archimedes realizes that as he lowers his body into the water, an equal amount of water is

displaced from the initial level, and eventually, if he lowers enough of his volume into the

bathtub, it overflowed. Right after that instant of realization, Archimedes ran out throughout the

streets of Syracuse naked while yelling repeatedly “Eureka, eureka!” Archimedes had figure out

how to tell if King Hieron’s crown was pure gold or not but submerging it into water. Since both

the crown and the gold nugget the king gave the goldsmith weighed the same, Archimedes

submerged both items underwater. Since the crown displaced more water than the gold nugget,

Archimedes had found out that the crown was mixed and that the king had been cheated on by

the goldsmith.

With his theory of using water to measure things such as King Hieron’s crown,

Archimedes applied this theory to a level of greater depth, literally. A rock will sink to the

bottom, however low that may be, but a piece of wood floats on the surface of a lake. A penny,

weighing significantly less than a massive steel aircraft carrier, sinks and the carrier floats. The

aircraft carrier floats because of its surface area distributed along the surface of the water. This is
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effect of Archimedes’ principle of buoyancy. Archimedes’ principle of buoyancy has been used

frequently for the construction and engineering of boats; using this calculation to find buoyant

force on the ship and to see whether the ship will be able to hold its own weight up or it will

sink. As you or any object pushes down, water pushes up. This net upward force is called the

buoyant force. The buoyant force on any object is the same buoyant force on the fluid that shape

takes up, or its displacement. Archimedes’ principle states: A fluid exerts an upward buoyant

force FB on an object immersed in or floating on the fluid. The magnitude of the buoyant force

equals the weight of the fluid displaced by the object. This gives out the equation, FB = ρfVfg,

meaning the buoyant force is equal to the density of the fluid multiplied by the volume of fluid

displaced due to the object submerging multiplied by the value of gravity. If the object is a cube,

with no structural engineering such as a ship with a hollow inside and a distributed area, then the

way to find out if it floats or sink is based on its density. If the density of the object is equal to

the density of the liquid it is being submerged in, then the object will hang motionless. If the

object’s density is less than that of the liquid it is being submerged in, then the object floats, and

vice versa, if the object’s density is greater than that of the liquid, the object sinks. This proves

that the both density and the weight of the volume displaced due to the object are directly related.

Copper is denser than water, hence, it sinks, and oil is less dense than water, so it floats. Fish use

swim bladders filled with air, but scuba divers use weighted belts to adjust their average density

to match that of the water so both can achieve neutral density. Also in the field of fluids,

Archimedes has his number, referred to as Ar = (gL3ρl)[ρ-ρ1]/μ2, g being the gravitational

acceleration, ρl being the density of the fluid, ρ being the density of the body submerged, μ being

the dynamic viscosity of the fluid in motion, and L being the length of the body being

submerged.
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Besides being famous for everything above, he was also famous finding pi to be between

two numbers. First off, Archimedes inscribed a hexagon in a circle and inscribed a circle in a

hexagon. Zooming in on the top arc created by the top side of the hexagon. Archimedes then

found the perpendicular bisector of that segment, drew it to intersect in the circle, and then

connected both corners of the hexagon to it. Doing so for all six sides of the hexagon then yields

a twelve sided polygon. Doing the same process for the twelve sided polygon, perpendicular

bisector, intersecting circle, connecting, and doing it for twelve times, would then result in a 24

sided polygon. Doubling sides again would then turn 24 into 48, and then doubling one more

time would result 48 into 96 sides. After all those calculations, Archimedes discovered the value

of π, being the value of the circumference over the diameter, to be between 223/71 and 22/7,

223/71 being the lower bound and 22/7 being the upper bound. This shows that his calculation of

pi is between 3.14084507 and 3.142857143. The actual value of pi is 3.141592653, which means

his value is actually not too bad and pretty centered from the upper and lower bounds. Getting up

to three exact figures is an accomplishment in 214B.C.

After Archimedes paved the way and started the initial calculation of the value of pi,

many mathematicians then followed his steps into finding a more exact value of pi. Liu Hui

found pi to be between 3.141024 and 3.142904, and later to top Archimedes’ 96 sided polygon,

Tsu Chung-Chi got pi to be between 3.1414526 and 3.1415927, and finding a better value for pi

being 355/113. The improvements have been continuingly bettering itself; the most impressive

thus far has to be on August 2nd, 2010 when a total of 5 ∙1012 decimals.

During the last years of Archimedes’ life, Syracuse was the leading the city of Sicily.

Archimedes’ weapons have been working. The machines were set up so that as the Romans

sailed up, they were shot at from a distance. With the catapults launching as they slowly sailed
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towards Syracuse, hitting the Romans was not a problem. After being ambushed by raining

boulders, the Romans have given up the assault. The Romans could take over Syracuse easily if

only one person had been removed from Syracuse: Archimedes.

After thinking Syracuse had the battle won, parties and festivals lined the streets of

Syracuse. People were partying, drunk right and left. The Romans then saw a chance for attack.

Their general sent in groups after groups of soldiers to conquer Syracuse. Before the people of

Syracuse could react, the wall was brought down by the Romans, and the city had been taken

over. Meanwhile, Archimedes was at the beach, drawing diagrams regarding geometry and

contemplating deeply for a solution, or another method to solve it. Being the studious person that

he is, he was in deep thought and was not conscious about his surrounds and the state that

Syracuse is in. suddenly, a Roman soldier popped out and pulled out his sword and ordered

Archimedes to go with him to his general. Archimedes, still contemplating about the geometry

problem, tells the soldier to give him a few minutes to solve the problem. Out of anger, the

soldier stabs Archimedes with his sword and kills him on the spot.

Archimedes died on 212B.C. He was greatly respected in the Greek culture. Before his

death, he had a special request: a sphere and a cylinder exactly enclosing it engraved on his

tomb. Wishing so, the scholar got exactly that engraved on his tomb. Archimedes was centuries

ahead of his time. His works survived, opened paths for modern mathematicians, and eventually,

into modern science and technology.

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Works Cited

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes_screw

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claw_of_Archimedes

http://www.cs.drexel.edu/~crorres/Archimedes/Screw/Applications.html

http://www.cs.drexel.edu/~crorres/Archimedes/Crown/CrownIntro.html

http://web.mit.edu/2.009/www/experiments/deathray/10_Mythbusters.html

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/10/18/obama-mythbusters-test-archimedes-death-ray-

push-promote-science/