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Physics 111: Elementary Physics

Laboratory B
Archimedes Principle
1. Introduction
King Heiron of the Greek city-state of Syracuse, in Sicily, assigned to Archimedes (B.C. 2!" # 2$2% the
&ro'lem of determining (hether a goldsmith may ha)e su'stituted some sil)er for some of the gold (hich
the goldsmith had 'een gi)en to make a cro(n for the king. *here seemed to 'e no (ay to determine this
short of melting do(n the cro(n. +ne day, (hile 'athing, Archimedes reali,ed that any o'-ect, ho(e)er
irregularly sha&ed, (ill dis&lace a )olume of fluid e.ual in )olume to that of the o'-ect (hich is immersed
in the fluid. /t (as then an easy matter to com&are the )olume of the cro(n (ith the )olume of e.ual
masses of &ure gold and &ure sil)er, and to find (hether the cro(n (as short in mass. King Heron (as
&leased (ith Archimedes, 'ut not (ith the goldsmith.
Archimedes also found that the 'uoyant force e0erted 'y a fluid on an o'-ect floating or immersed
in the fluid is e.ual to the (eight of the fluid dis&laced. *his latter fact, no( kno(n as Archimedes1
2rinci&le, is of central im&ortance (hen designing shi&s and 'oats. +ne can make )essels such as rafts or
hollo(ed-out logs of materials themsel)es light enough to float. +ne can make )essels ca&a'le of carrying
much larger loads of much stronger materials, such as metals (hich are too dense to float, 'y using the
materials to make a frame(ork o)er (hich is &laced a (atertight co)ering. *he )olume thus defined is
great enough to cause dis&lacement of large enough a )olume of (ater to 'ear u& the load to 'e carried in
the )essel.
*his e0&eriment (ill a&&ly Archimedes1 2rinci&le
to determine the relati)e density of three &ieces of metal.
*he (eight of a &iece (ill 'e determined in air, 3a, and
(hen it is immersed in (ater, 3i (see figure at right%. *he
'uoyant force, B, (hich the (ater e0erts on the &iece of
metal then is gi)en 'y
B 4 3a # 3i ($%
(hich is also e.ual to the (eight of the (ater dis&laced 'y
the metal. 5ote that 3a 4 mg.
*he )olume of the (ater dis&laced is e.ual to the )olume, 6,
of the &iece of metal. /f the density of the metal is 7, and
that of the (ater is 7(, then
7 4 3a8(6g%, (2%
and
7( 4 B8(6g%. (9%
/n :.s. ($% and (2%, the sym'ol g re&resents the acceleration due to gra)ity ( g 4 ;.< m8s
2
%. *he mass m,
of an o'-ect is gi)en 'y m 4 3a8g. *he relati)e density (or s&ecific gra)ity% of the metal is the ratio of its
density to that of (ater,
=elati)e density 4 787( 4 3a8B 4 3a8(3a # 3i% 4 ma8(ma # mi%. (>%
2. Procedure
A. ?or each &iece of metal it (ill 'e necessary to use the 'alance to determine the mass of the &iece
first in air, and then (hen the &iece is immersed in (ater. /n &re&aration for the latter, a &iece of
thread should 'e used to sus&end the &iece of metal from the &lace on the 'alance (here the
'alance &an is usually sus&ended. :nough room should 'e left that a 'eaker of (ater can 'e
mo)ed under the &iece of metal. After the mass of the &iece of metal in air has 'een found, mo)e
the 'eaker of (ater under the metal and raise the 'eaker until the metal is immersed and record
the ne( reading, mi. :nter the data in the ta'le and use :.. (>% to calculate the relati)e density.
@se a ta'le of relati)e densities of common materials to identify the ty&e of metal in each &iece.
B. +ne of the &ieces of metal (ill 'e a regular cylinder. *he )olume of the cylinder is gi)en 'y the
&roduct Ar
2
h, (here r is the radius of the cylinder and h is the height (or length% of the cylinder.
@se the cali&er to measure the radius of the cylinder and its height. @se these data to calculate a
theoretical )alue, 6theo, of the )olume of the cylinder. *he )alues of the masses of the cylinder
(hich are recorded a'o)e can 'e used to determine the 'uoyant force, B. *he fact that the
density of (ater is taken to 'e $<
9
kg8m
9
($ g8cm
9
% can then 'e com'ined (ith :..(9% to
determine a )alue of the )olume 6e0&. 6e0& is the 6 (hich a&&ears in e.uations (2% and (9%.
Com'ining (9% (ith ($% (e find that
6e0& 4 (3a # 3i%8(7(g% 4 (ma # mi%87( (B%
?ind 'oth 6theo and 6e0&, and determine the &ercentage difference of 6e0& from 6theo,
C686theo 4 (D 6e0& # 6theo D%E$<< 86theo.
Physics 111: Elementary Physics
Pre-Lab Exercise
Archimedes Principle
Name: Section:
$. 3ith reference to the e.uili'rium of the &iece of metal -ustify the form of e.uation ($%.
2. 6erify the last e.uality in :.. (>%.
9. Some students &erformed the e0&eriment (ith a certain kind of metal. *hey found for the masses
the follo(ing )alues. Fetermine the relati)e density of the metal. @se the ta'le of densities in
your te0t 'ook to identify the metal.
ma mi =elati)e Fensity. *y&e of metal
!;.2 g !<.$ g GGGGGGGGGGG GGGGGGGGGG
>. *he same students also ha)e o'tained )alues for r, h and 6e0&. Com&lete the data ta'le. Gi)e
careful attention to units and significant figures.
r h 6theo 6e0& C686theo(H%
<.I;B cm B.;B cm GGGGGGG GGGGGGGG GGGGGGGGGG
B. State 'riefly ($<< (ords or less% the o'-ecti)es of this e0&eriment and the &rinci&le (hich is to 'e
tested.
Physics 111: Elementary Physics
Lab !eport
Archimedes Principle
Investigators: GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG , GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG , GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
Date: GGGGGGGGGGGGG
ProcedureJ Fescri'e 'riefly (2<< (ords or less% the &rocedures used in this e0&eriment.
"ata:
2rocedure A
ma mi =elati)e Fensity *y&e of metal
$. GGGGGGGG GGGGGGGG GGGGGGGGG GGGGGGGGGG
2. GGGGGGGG GGGGGGGG GGGGGGGGG GGGGGGGGGG
9. GGGGGGGG GGGGGGGG GGGGGGGGG GGGGGGGGGG
2rocedure B
r h 6theo 6e0& C686theo(H%
GGGGGG GGGGGG GGGGGGG GGGGGGG GGGGGGGGG
"iscussion: Fiscuss the outcome of the e0&eriment, including estimates of the accuracy of relati)e
densities found (ith those in standard ta'les, and the com&arison of 6theo (ith 6e0&.

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