buoyancy problems
Physics 213R: Recitation
Buoyancy
A maximum of three students is allowed per group. If a group of four students must be formed, check with your recitation instructor before starting work on the activity.
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Problem text and figures © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
1. A rectangular wooden block of weight W floats with exactly one-half of its volume below the waterline.
a. What is the buoyant force acting on the block?
i. 2W ii. W
iii. W/2 iv. The buoyant force cannot be determined
b. The density of water is 1.00 g/cm 3 . What is the density of the block?
i. 2.00 g/cm 3
ii. between 1.00 and 2.00 g/cm 3
iii. 1.00 g/cm 3
iv. between 0.50 and 1.00 g/cm 3
v. 0.50 g/cm 3
vi. The density cannot be determined.
c. Masses are stacked on top of the block until the top of the block is level with the waterline. This requires 20 g of mass. What is the mass of the wooden block?
i. 40 g ii. 20 g
iii. 10 g
d. The wooden block is removed from the water bath and placed in an unknown liquid. In this liquid, only one-third of the wooden block is submerged. Is the
unknown liquid more or less dense than water?
e. What is the density of the unknown liquid ρunknown? (Express your answer numerically in grams per cubic centimeter.)
Problem text and figures © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
2. Glycerin is poured into an open U-shaped tube until the height in both sides is 20 cm. Ethyl alcohol is then poured into one arm until the height of the alcohol column is 20 cm.
The two liquids do not mix. What is the difference in height between the top surface of
the glycerin and the top surface of the alcohol? Express your answer with the
appropriate units. (The density of glycerin is 1260 kg/m 3 ; the density of ethyl alcohol is
790 kg/m 3 .)
3. Water flows from the pipe shown in the figure with a speed of 6.0 m/s.
a. What is the water pressure as it exits into the air? Express your answer to two
significant figures and include the appropriate units.
b. What is the height h of the standing column of water? Express your answer to two significant figures and include the appropriate units.
Problem text and figures © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
4. The bottom of a steel "boat" is a 6.00m × 10.0m × 4.00cm piece of steel (ρsteel = 7900 kg/m
3 ). The sides are made of 0.510 cm -thick steel. What minimum height must the
sides have for this boat to float in perfectly calm water (ρwater = 1000 kg/m 3 )? Express
your answer with the appropriate units.