Buoyancy Lab: Aluminum Foil Boat and Pennies



SCCS Physics Name:

Archimedes Principle Investigation: To Sink or Not To Sink?

Pre-Lab Questions:

1. When was Archimedes born?

2. Where was he born, and what country is this island a part of today?

3. What are 3 inventions or discoveries attributed to Archimedes?

4. How did Archimedes help King Heiro?

5. State Archimedes’ Principle of Buoyancy.

Objective:

Use aluminum foil to design and build 3 different boats that will hold as much weight as possible without sinking.

Concept:

Archimedes principle states that the magnitude of the buoyant force equals the weight of the fluid displaced by the object. The buoyant force acting on the aluminum and mass in the boat is the same as the buoyant force acting on an equivalent amount of water.

PROJECT PARAMETERS

1. You may use only a 30cm x 30 cm piece of aluminum foil to fashion each boat.

2. Your boat must float with the mass loaded on for at least 5 seconds to count.

3. You must build 3 different boat designs.

MATERIALS

Tub of water, One 30 cm x 30 cm square of aluminum foil, pennies, ruler, timer

PROCEDURE (for each of your 3 boats)

1. Use a ruler and measure a 30 cm x 30 cm square of aluminum foil.

2. Describe your boat design under the data section.

3. Make a hypothesis as to how many pennies the boat will hold in the data section. Record it in the space provided.

4. Name your boat.

5. Build your boat and place it in the water.

6. Add one penny to the boat at a time until the boat starts to sink. Record amount of pennies (minus the one that sank it) in the data section.

7. Clean up any spilled water and your work area. Dry off the pennies and return them to the cup.

Include your hypothesis and all questions in the data and conclusion sections in your write-up.

Hypothesis :

Data

For ALL 3 Boats, record the following data on a separate sheet of paper:

1. Maximum mass floated: ___________ grams.

2. Name of boat: _________________

3. Drawing/description of boat design with boat dimensions and estimation of volume

Conclusion

On a separate sheet of paper, address and discuss the following points:

1. What was the dependent variable in this activity?

2. What was the independent variable in this activity?

3. What conclusions can you draw from your data? Reference your collected data in your discussion.

4. Relate Archimedes’ Law of Buoyancy to the following accounts:

a. Construction of the ark (Genesis 6)

b. Jesus walking on water (Matthew 14, Mark 6, John 6)

c. Hauling fish, calling disciples (Luke 5)

|GRADING RUBRIC |Points available |Points earned |

|Hypothesis |10 | |

|Boat A |15 total | |

|Name and penny data |5 | |

|Drawing/description |5 | |

|Volume calculation |5 | |

|Boat B |15 total | |

|Name and penny data |5 | |

|Drawing/description |5 | |

|Volume calculation |5 | |

|Boat C |15 total | |

|Name and penny data |5 | |

|Drawing/description |5 | |

|Volume calculation |5 | |

|Evaluation (Use your best performing boat) |15 total | |

|Holds > 20 pennies |5 | |

|Holds > 40 pennies |10 | |

|Holds > 60 pennies |15 | |

|Conclusion |30 total | |

|Discussion of conclusions |15 | |

|Relate to Biblical accounts |15 | |

Total (out of 100):

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download