Buoyancy - Submarine Simulation
How does a huge cruise ship stay afloat? Yet a penny sinks?
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to discover a predictor for whether something will sink or float.
- Is it weight?
- Is it size?
- Is it density?
We’re going to try and test each of these hypotheses. Your job is to figure out a simple experiment to try and disprove each one, until we get to the one that works!
Along the way, we’ll try to simulate a submarine… the ultimate machine that can control when it sinks and when it floats. If we can unlock those secrets, we can design a boat that will float!
Materials list:
- A plastic tank & water (or you can use the kitchen sink, a tub, or a simming pool!)
- A variety of objects of different materials, shapes and sizes. Some suggestions:
plastic fork, metal fork, penny, cork, bowl or cup, piece of wood. - Also… a plastic container with a lid and a variety of weights. Coins will work, or a collection of nuts and metal washers.
- Digital scale – to weigh your items. Alternately, a balance scale to determine relative weight.