Emily Ha

LAB 4 Archimedes Principle

i) Group Members: Thanh Minh Le, Emily Ha ii) Aim: To examine Archimedes Principle in a body that is partially or totally immersed in fluid, that the buoyancy force on an object is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object. That is, its apparent l oss in weight (buoyant force, B) is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the body. Part A iii) Method (a) : 1. Using a top-pan balance, determine the mass of the Aluminium (M Al) and wood block (Mw). 2. Using a ruler, determine the volumes of the aluminium and wood blocks. 3. Calculate densities of aluminium and wood from their respective masses and volumes using the formula m= v. Method (b): 4. Using the spring-balance , measure the apparent weight of the aluminium in air WAl and measure when the aluminium is immersed in water. 5. Calculate the apparent loss in weight of the aluminium given by WAl W. 6. Calculate the volume of water displaced as equivalent to the volume of aluminium as it is completely immersed in water (Archimedes Principle) using density of water 1.00 x 10 3 kg/m3. 7. Place the wood in a large container of water. Mark its height above the surface on the water to be h and height of the block being H . 8. In accordance to Archimedes Principle, calculate the density of the wood floating in water. Part B 9. Fill a 100cc beaker approximately two-thirds full of water and record its mass on a top-pan balance. Calculate its weight W 1. 10. Suspend the aluminium in water until it is completely immersed. Record it as W 2. 11. Determine the weight change (W2 W1) and compare this with (WAl W). vi) Part C Problem Solution i) Mass of oil displaced

ii)

Density of oil

vii) Conclusion Method A in comparison to method B reveals more reliable measurements due to decrease systematic and instrument error. Method B consumes more time to conduct as well as involving procedures that induce instrument errors. E.g. use of the springbalance will cause instrument error due to inaccuracy of the instrument. Also, floating the wood on water and measuring the height about the water is not exact either as there may be human error in determining the horizontal level of the water that marks the block. As this method requires the equation between density of wood, density of water and the fraction of wood submerged, the inaccuracy of h and H will impact on the experiment s overall accuracy and reliability of results. To find density, we need mass and volume. Method A proves to be more accurate but only when the object s volume is easy to measure with a ruler. Method B can be used to measure objects that do not have symmetric or irregular shapes. The purpose of Method B is based on Archimedes Principle to measure the irregular volume of a shape based on measuring the volume of the displaced liquid once the object is submerged in water. According to Archimedes Principle FB = wA wF, it is possible to determine the density of the object without determining it s volume by also applying the formula F= g V. WAl W gives us the apparent loss in weight of aluminium. Using Archimedes Principle to calculate the volume of water displaced and the density of water (1.00 x 10 3 kg/m3) we can obtain the volume of aluminium. In Part B of the experiment, we obtain W 1 and W2 . W1 will be less than W 2 due to the buoyancy provided by the water. Apparent loss in weight due to the upthrust of the water is W 2 W1. On comparison of WAl W and W2 W1, we conclude they are of equal value. That is the loss in weight of W 2 W1 is equal to the weight of the volume displaced by the aluminium given by W Al W. Hence, Archimedes Principle holds true for this experimentation. It states that When an object is immersed in a fluid, there is an upwardbuoyant force equal to the weight of the volume of fluiddisplaced by the object.