Physics 201 Section 401
ARCHIMEDES’ PRINCIPLE
Jordan Nix
Partners: Kelsey Carter and Taylor Pfau
Date Performed: November 10, 2014
TA: Andrew Whitley

Abstract

Table 1

Mass (g)
Mass Submerged (g)
Mass Apparent (m') (g)
Radius (cm)
Length (cm)
Length Submerged (cm)
Volume (cm3)
Aluminum
58.50 42.00
0.95
7.60 21.32
Wood
30.50
8.85
20.00
1.15
9.89
2.90
12.05

Table 2

Theoretical Density
(theo) (g/cm3)
Experimental Density
(exp) (g/cm3)
Percent Difference
(%)
Aluminum
2.74
3.54
29.20
Wood
2.54
2.90
14.17

Discussion In the first part, a 58.5 g aluminum cylinder was hung from a string attached to a scale and submerged in a graduated cylinder filled with water. The cylinder displaced approximately 17 mLs of water and had an “apparent mass” of 42 g while submerged. Two oppositional forces acted upon the cylinder: gravity drew it downward while buoyant force pushed it towards the water’s surface. Using Archimedes’ Principle that force on a body in a fluid is equal in magnitude to the weight displaced by the fluid, we were able to calculate the experimental density of the aluminum cylinder as 3.54 g/cm3. Measurements of the radius and length of the cylinder provided its volume and theoretical density of 2.74 g/cm^3 which confirmed Archimedes’ Principle. The principle was further confirmed by calculating a 2.99% difference between the buoyant force and the weight of the aluminum cylinder. In the