TOPS #09 Floating and Sinking

24 Task Card Activities



Baby oil floats on rubbing alcohol, which floats on corn oil, which floats on water. Why do they float in that order? A candle sinks through these layers until it floats on corn oil. Why won't it sink further? Your students will discover the physics behind these phenomena by measuring mass, displacing volumes and calculating densities. They'll measure weight and buoyancy on spring balances they build themselves. In time they'll experience, like Archimedes, that flash of understanding: Eureka! Floaters float and sinkers sink because they both are buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the water they displace.