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Buoyancy Experiment
- Things You Will Need
- Bowl or tub of water
- Suggested objects to test: stone, orange, apple, screw, pieces of wood, egg, coins, plastic foam, candle, pencil, seeds, eraser, piece of clay, sponge, stick, flower
- Do This
- Place the selected objects, one by one, into the bowl or tub of water to test whether they sink or float.
- What Should Have Happened
- Some of the objects selected should have floated while others did not. Density is how heavy something is compared to its volume (amount of space something takes up). An object that is heavy for its size has a high density. For example, an empty jar has a low density but a jar full of pennies has a high density. The density of something is determined by dividing its weight by its volume. One cubic centimeter of water weighs one gram, so water has a density of one. If an object has a density greater than one (or has a high density), it will sink in water. If an object has a density less than one (or has a low density), it will float on water.
