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Will An Object Float or Sink in Water?

1. The document describes an experiment using a PhET simulation to determine whether blocks of different materials will float or sink in water based on their density. 2. Students measured the mass and volume of 5 blocks made of different materials and calculated their densities. They then predicted and observed whether each block floated or sank. 3. The conclusion explains that an object will float if it has a lower density than water and sink if it has a higher density than water.

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Isabella Betances-Perez
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32 views

Will An Object Float or Sink in Water?

1. The document describes an experiment using a PhET simulation to determine whether blocks of different materials will float or sink in water based on their density. 2. Students measured the mass and volume of 5 blocks made of different materials and calculated their densities. They then predicted and observed whether each block floated or sank. 3. The conclusion explains that an object will float if it has a lower density than water and sink if it has a higher density than water.

Uploaded by

Isabella Betances-Perez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Name Isabella Betances Date 10/26/2022 Period 7/8

Will an Object Float or Sink in Water?


Go to: https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/legacy/density

You should see:

Click the play arrow and you should see:

On the right select “Mystery” and then you should see:

DO NOT PLACE THE BLOCKS IN THE WATER YET! Based on your observations, predict whether each
block will float or sink and give a short reason in the table below.

Block Float Sink Reasoning


I
predict
A it Block A would sink because of the mass.
would
sink.
I
predict
B it Bock B would float because of the mass.
would
float.
I
predict
Block C would sink even though block C & B has the same volume I think C would
C it
have more mass than B.
would
sink.
I
predict
D it Block D would float I think it would have less mass and lots of volume.
would
float.
I
predict
E it Block E would float because I have a gut feeling that it’s like D.
would
float.

Procedure:
1. Take a block and place it on the scale to the left in order to mass it. Record its mass in the table below.
2. Once massed, place the block in the water and hold it at the bottom to find its volume by water
displacement (Look at the volume meter on the right). Record its volume in the table below.
3. Release the block to see if it sinks or floats. Check the appropriate box in the table.
4. Remove the block and place it on the right.
5. Repeat for all blocks.
6. When finished, calculate the density of each block.
Mass of Object Volume of Object Density of Object
Block Float or Sink?
(kg) (L) (kg/L)
A 19.30kg 5.5L 3.50kg/L Sink
B 0.40kg 0.4L 1kg/L Float
C 19.32kg 1L 19.32kg/L Sink
D 5.00kg 5L 1kg/L Sink
E 2.80kg 2.8L 1kg/L Float

Click the tab that says “show table” on the right and identify the material each block is made of.

Block Material
A Diamond
B Water
C Gold
D Water
E Water

Conclusion: The density of water is known to be 1.0 kg/L. Based on this information and the densities you
calculated above; explain how you can determine if an object will sink or float in water.

Density is a measure of how heavy something is compared to its size. If an object is denser than water it will
sink when placed in water, and if it is less dense than water it will float. For example, Block B will float
because it’s less dense that water, but Block A would sink because it’s denser than water.

Evaluation: You discover a box at your front doorstep and want to figure out what’s inside of it without opening
it (after all, it could be dangerous!). Luckily, you remember to use the physical property of density to help you
identify the contents of the box. You find the mass of the box to be 120 kg and the volume to be 30 L. What is
the object’s density? Will this box sink or float in water? Explain your answer.

The density would be 4g/mL and the box would sink because it’s denser than water. I divided mass over
volume to find the density.

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