Name: Jakob Evangelista

Class: Physics 2
Period: 2
Group #: 1
Lab # and Title: 3 – Archimedes’ Principle
Laboratory Report
Purpose
In this lab we are setting out to find the buyout force of a submerged object, the volume of that
submerged object, and the weight of the fluid displaced by the submerged object. We will measure the
buoyant force by subtracting the force of the object when it is submerged from the force of the object
when it is in the air. We will also measure the volume of the object and the weight of the water displaced
by the submerged object. The questions we are trying to answer in this lab is: is there a relationship
between buoyant force and volume? Is there a relationship between buoyant force and weight?
Equipment Used
Overflow Beaker, water, Triple Beam Balance, Brass, aluminum, copper, zinc and lead weights, Spring
Scale, small beaker, large beaker, graduated cylinder
Procedure
1. Fill the large beaker with water.
2. Record the mass of the small beaker in Newtons.
3. Place the Overflow beaker next to the small beaker with the spout of the overflow beaker directly
over the small beaker to prevent from water spilling on the table.
4. Fill the overflow beaker with the water in the large beaker until water starts flowing into the small
beaker.
5. Take the spring scale and hang a brass weight from the hook in the air. Record the force in Newtons.

6. Dip the Brass weight until the whole weight is covered in water. Record
the force from the Spring Scale in Newtons.
 7. To calculate the Buoyant Force, subtract the force you recorded in Step 6 from the force you
recorded in Step 5. Record this in data table 1 and 2 in Newtons.
8. Take the small beaker full of the displaced water and place it on the Triple Beam Balance. Subtract
the weight of the small beaker from the weight of the small beaker full of displaced water and record
in Data Table 2.
9. Pour the water from the small beaker into the graduated cylinder. Record the volume of water in mL
in Data Table 1.
10. Pour the water from the small beaker back into the small beaker and repeat steps 3-9 with a different
weight (aluminum, copper, zinc and lead).
Data

Volume Buoyant
(mL) Force (N)
0 0
0 Brass: 0.05
4.5 Aluminum:
0.05
7.5 Copper:
0.07
10 Zinc: 0.09
10.5 Lead: 0.11
12 .13
Weight (N) Buoyant
Force (N)
0 0
0.044 Brass: 0.05
0.074 Aluminum:
0.07
0.098 Copper:
0.09
0.103 Zinc: 0.11
.118 Lead: 0.13
Analysis Questions
1. What mathematical relationship between the buoyant force and the submerged volume is implied by your data?

Even though our data is weird, we can tell that the mathematical relationship between the buoyant force and the
submerged volume is linear.

2. The buoyant force Fb acting on an object that is partially or completely submerged in a fluid is described by
the equation,

Using our slope from graph 1 we can gather that the bouyant force divided by volume is equalt to the
density times gravity. 9.2612N/L = p(9.8 N/Kg) p(rho) = .94502 kg/L p = 945.02 kg/m^3
𝐹𝑏 = 𝜌𝑉𝑔
where V is the submerged volume of the object and 𝜌 is the density of the fluid in which the object is
submerged. Use your data to determine an experimental value for the density of the fluid in which you are
submerging the cylinders.

. 15N = ρ(. 10L)(9.8 N/kg)

. 15N = ρ(.98L*N/kg)

=.153 kg/L

3. Archimedes’ principle states that an object completely submerged or partially submerged in a fluid
experiences an upward buoyant force equal in magnitude to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object.
Does your data support this statement? If yes, explain how it supports it; if no, identify which data do not
support it, and what may have cause this disagreement.

Most of our data does support Archimedes’ principle except for one outlier (weight= 0.088263 N, buoyant force of
brass=0.15 N). This was probably caused by the fact that we did not fill the overflow beaker with enough
water before we dipped our brass into the overflow beaker. However, the rest of our data was fairly
consistent with Archimedes’ principle as you can gather from table 2. For example, the weight of zinc
(0.1039542) and the buoyant force of zinc (.10 N) are almost exactly equal to each other.
Synthesis Questions
1. A wood salvage company is hoisting an old tree trunk off the bottom and out of a lake. The cable from the
hoise is tied around the log above its center of mass. The hoist applies a force of 9,800N to the cable to
suspend the log in the lake water (Twater), and a force of 29,000 N to suspend the log above the lake surface
(Tair). What are the volume and density of the log? Assume the lake water has a density of 1,007 kg/m 2.
Show your work on a piece of paper and upload a picture below.

2. A cylinder with radius 5.00 cm and length 20.0 cm is lowered into a tank of glucose, which has a density of
1,385 kg/m3. The cylinder is lowered in four stages:
a. Zero submersion
b. Half-submersion to a depth of 10.0 cm
 c. Fully submerged to a depth of 20.0 cm
d. Fully submerged to a depth of 30.0 cm
What is the buoyant force on the cylinder at each stage?
a. 0N

b. 10.671 N

c. 21.342 N

d. 21.342 N

ii. After being lowered to a depth of 30.0 cm, the string holding a cylinder is cut. If the net force on the
cylinder after the string is cut is 1.00 N downward, what is the density of the cylinder material?
a. 1449.9 kg/m3

3. A crab fisherman has built a crab trap out of plastic pipe and wire mesh. The overall mass and volume of the
trap are 5.59 kg and 6,213 cm3, respectively. To catch crab, the trap must sink to the ocean floor. The
fisherman has several lead weights to add to the trap to ensure it sinks. If sea water has density of 1,021
kg/m3, and each lead weight has mass of 113.4 g and volume of 10.0 cm3, what is the minimum number of
weights the fisherman must add so that the trap sinks to the ocean floor? Please show your work on a piece
of paper and attach a picture below.

4.