In this Wiki, we will explore the idea of how to increase the buoyant force of an object. We see many objects, such as ships and boats float in the water, yet the material they are made out of, steel, normally sinks. So what makes those objects float? We will be taking an object, clay, which normally sinks, and try and find a way to make it float.
Hypothesis:
To increase the buoyant force you can increase the amount of surface area and flatten it out so that the object can hold more weight. For example a barge is a very flat boat and isn't very tall, but it can hold really heavy objects without sinking. However you also need to make it into a kind of bowl shape so that the water doesn't get on top of it and make it sink.
Materials:
|
2 liter bottle with tube
|
Styrofoam bowl
|
Pennies for weights
|
|
Clay
|
Scale
|
Sink for water
|
Procedures:
-
Find the mass of the Styrofoam bowl and record it Here: 2.84
-
Place the 2-liter bottle and the Styrofoam bowl next to each other. Place the tube that is sticking out of the 2-liter bottle inside the Styrofoam so the Styrofoam bowl can catch the overflowing water.
-
Fill the 2-liter bottle with water until the water starts to flow through the plastic tubing. When the water stops flowing through the tube then you have reached a proper water level to perform the experiments. This water level must be reached before beginning each trial.
-
Make sure ALL the water is emptied out of the Styrofoam bowl before starting each trial.
-
Find the mass of the clay.
-
Carefully, slide the clump of clay into the 2-liter bottle.
-
Water should flow through the tube and into the Styrofoam bowl. Once the water stops flowing through the tube, take the Styrofoam bowl and place it on the scale.
-
Calculate the mass of just the water inside the Styrofoam bowl. This is your buoyant force. Record in the data table.
-
Repeat steps 2 – 8 one more time.
-
Take the clay out of the water and dry it as best as you can without losing any of the clay.
Another way buoyant force can be measured, when weight is added to sink an object, is to measure the amount of mass it takes to sink the object.
- Now, mold your clay into a small bowl
- Place the small clay bowl into the 2 liter bottle
- Add the pennies slowly until the clay bowl sinks.
- Take the clay bowl with the pennies out of the water and dry the clay and pennies to the best of your abilities.
- Place the dry clay bowl and pennies on the scale. This is the buoyant force of the clay bowl.
Data Table/Results:
| Shape of Clay |
Mass of Clay (g) |
Buoyant Force (g) Trial 1 |
Buoyant Force (g) Trial 2 |
Buoyant Force (g) Average |
| Clump |
81.45 |
54.01 |
53.66 |
53.87 |
| Small Bowl |
81.45 |
148.0 |
147.16 |
147.58 |
| Big Bowl |
81.45 |
175.12 |
192.09 |
183.61 |
Data Analysis:
The shape of clay that had the most buoyant force was the bigger bowl. We know this because the average buoyant force of the clump of clay was 53.87, the small bowl was 147.58, but the big bowl had an average buoyant force of 183.61. This evidence also tells us that the clump of clay had the least buoyant force because. The clump of clay only had a buoyant force of 53.87, but weighed just about as much as the other shapes did. My table and I noticed that as the shape of the object became more bowl shaped and held more air, the object's buoyant force increased. We learned that if you want to increase the buoyant force of an object than you need to make it into a container that holds air.
Conclusion:
To increase the buoyant Force of an object, if the mass stayed the same, one would need to create a container type object that can be filled with air. From there, the container would need to be made as big as possible (bigger volume) so it can take up as much space as possible.
Related Links:
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.