Buoyant Boats

View Resource

Read the Fine Print

Author:

Mary R. Hebrank

Subject:

Mathematics and Statistics, Science and Technology

Institution Name:

Engineering K-Ph.D. Program, Duke University

Collection:

TeachEngineering

Grade Level:

Secondary

Abstract:

Students will conduct a simple experiment to see how the water level changes in a beaker when a lump of clay sinks in the water and when the same lump of clay is shaped into a bowl that floats in the water. They will notice that the floating clay displaces more water than the sinking clay does, a result that will probably surprise them. They will then determine the mass of water that is displaced when the clay floats in the water. A comparison of this mass to the mass of the clay itself should reveal that they are approximately the same.

Languages:

English

Material Type:

Activities and Labs, Lesson Plans

Media Format:

Graphics/Photos, Text/HTML

Conditions of Use:

Read the fine print
Resources may be used on a nonprofit, non-commercial basis by educators, without any fee or cost to access, link to and use, or in any manner alter, revise, copy, edit, translate or digitize.

Copyright Holder:

Duke University