Summer Khan

Experiment 13:Buoyant Force, Determination of

Water Density
Physics 185-W
Group #1

Objective:
The purpose of this lab was to determine an objects buoyant
force when placed in water. In other words, students had to study how
objects float in water and what allows them to that. In this lab, the
students filled a can of water and placed an object to see how much
water was displaced due to the overflow when the object was placed
in. Also by measuring the weight of the object before it was placed into
the water and after it was placed in water, the students calculated the
buoyant force, and the density of the object.

Theory:
The buoyant force on a submerged object is equal to the weight
of the liquid displaced by the object. For water, that has a density of
one gram per cubic centimeter, it allows to determine the volume of an
irregularly shaped object and then to determine its density. When an
object is submerged in a fluid (completely or partially), there exits an
upward force on the object. When an object is floating, the net force on
it will be zero. This happens when the volume of the object submerged
displaces an amount of liquid whose weight is equal to the weight of
the object. The Archimedes principle states that any object totally or
partially submerged in a fluid experiences an upward force which is
called buoyancy. Buoyancy is equal to the volume and the weight of
the fluid displaced.

Formulas:
Fb=DfxVfxg
DfxVfxg=Wair-Win fluid
Df=Wair-Win fluid/ Vfxg
D1= Nair Nwater/ Vx9.8
D2= Nair- Nwater/Vx9.8
%error= (experimental-actual/actual )x 100

Procedure:
The student must first fill the overflow can with spout with water
to a level just below the bottom part of the spout so that it does not
spill. Then the students placed the plastic volume cylinder under the
spout so that it can catch any overflow water when the specimen is
placed in the overflow can. Record in the data. Convert the overflow
volume in cubic centimeters and record in the data. Last, with the
specimen connected to one of the pans determine the weight of the
specimen outside of the water and the weight of the specimen
submerged in the water.
Materials:

Overflow can
Water
Spout
Plastic volume cylinder

Vernier Caliper

Tabulation:
Table 1
Volume of overflow (mL)
3.2 mL

Volume of overflow (m3)

3.246x10-5 m3

Table 2
Weight of specimen out of water
(N)
2.7N

Weight of specimen in the water

(N)
2.4 N

Table 3
Buoyant force (N)

Density of water
(kgms/m3)
experimental

Density of water
(kgms/m3) theoretical
1.0X103

0.3 N

Conclusion:
In this lab, we had to calculate the buoyant force. Overall, this
lab helped students understands buoyant force. In this lab, we learned
how buoyant force works and objects float when put in a liquid. In this
lab, we were able to calculate density of the liquid that the object was
placed in. Archimedes idea of buoyancy and density allowed us to
find the density of the object by knowing the buoyant force and the
amount of volume that was used in the experiment.