Archimedes of Syracus

He was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor from the ancient
city of Syracuse in Sicily. Although few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading
scientists in classical antiquity. Considered the greatest mathematician of ancient history, and one of the
greatest of all time. Archimedes was well known for his inventions and scientific discoveries. The most
famous of these were the Archimedes’ Screw (a device for raising water that is still used in crop
irrigation and sewage treatment plants today) and Archimedes’ principle of buoyancy.

Archimedes was well known for his inventions and scientific discoveries. Many of his inventions,
theories and concepts are still in use today. Perhaps his best-known achievement was his “Eureka”
moment, when he discovered the principle of buoyancy

The Archimedes principle: The buoyant (upward) force acting on an object is equal to the weight
(downward force) of the displaced fluid.

Archimedes thought long and hard but could not find a method for proving that the crown was not
solid gold. Soon after, he filled a bathtub and noticed that water spilled over the edge as he got in and
he realized that the water displaced by his body was equal to the weight of his body. Knowing that gold
was heavier than other metals the crown maker could have substituted in, Archimedes had his method
to determine that the crown was not pure gold. Forgetting that he was undressed, he went running
naked down the streets from his home to the king shouting “Eureka!”
 The exdamation “Eureka” (meaning “I found it) has often been credited to Archimedes as he made the
discovery that would lead to Archimedes’ principle.

The Archimedes principle

According to Boundless, the Archimedes principle states that the buoyant force on an object
submerged in a fluid is equal to the weight of the fluid that is displaced by that object. If a glass is filled
to the top with water and then ice cubes are added to it, what happens? Just like the water spilled over
the edge when Archimedes entered his bathtub, the water in the glass will spill over when ice cubes are
added to it. If the water that spilled out were weighed (weight is a downward force), it would equal the
upward (buoyant) force on the object. From the buoyant force, the volume or average density of the
object can be determined.

Archimedes was able to determine that the crown was not pure gold due to the volume of the
displaced water, because even though the weight of the crown was identical to the weight of the gold
that the king gave the crown maker, the volume was different due the various densities of the metals.

Archimedes principle refers to the force of buoyancy that results when a body is submerged in a
fluid, whether partially or wholly. The force that provides the pressure of a fluid acts on a body
perpendicular to the surface of the body. In other words, the force due to the pressure at the bottom is
pointed up, while at the top, the force due to the pressure is pointed down; the forces due to the
pressures at the sides are pointing into the body.

Since the bottom of the body is at a greater depth than the top of the body, the pressure at the
lower part of the body is higher than the pressure at the upper part. Therefore a net upward force acts
on the body. This upward force is the force of buoyancy, or simply buoyancy.
Density and Archimedes' Principle

If you drop a lump of clay in water, it will sink. But if you mold the same lump of clay into the shape of
a boat, it will float. Because of its shape, the clay boat displaces more water than the lump and
experiences a greater buoyant force, even though its mass is the same. The same is true of steel ships.

The average density of an object is what ultimately determines whether it floats. If an object's average
density is less than that of the surrounding fluid, it will float. The reason is that the fluid, having a higher
density, contains more mass and hence more weight in the same volume. The buoyant force, which
equals the weight of the fluid displaced, is thus greater than the weight of the object. Likewise, an object
denser than the fluid will sink.

The extent to which a floating object is submerged depends on how the object's density compares to
the density of the fluid. For example, the unloaded ship has a lower density and less of it is submerged
compared with the same ship when loaded. We can derive a quantitative expression for the fraction
submerged by considering density. The fraction submerged is the ratio of the volume submerged to the
volume of the object, or fraction submersubmerge

Uses of the Archimedes principle

The Archimedes principle is a very useful and versatile tool. It can be useful in measuring the
volume of irregular objects, such as gold crowns, as well as explaining the behaviors of any object placed
in any fluid. Archimedes’ principle describes how ships float, submarines dive, hot air balloons fly, and
many others examples, according to Science Clarified. The Archimedes principle is also used in a large
variety of scientific research subjects including medical, engineering, entomology, engineering, and
geology.
"When a body is immersed fully or partially in a fluid, it experiences an upward force that is equal to the
weight of the fluid displaced by it" -Archimedes

Simplify the sentence and it will be( to understand easily)

“ When a body is immersed fully in water, it experiences an upward force that is equal to the weight of
the water displaced by it.”

Cut it in to two parts

Part1 “ When a body is immersed fully in water, it experiences an upward force”

Part2” that is equal to the weight of the water displaced by it.”

Part 1

Let us explain it to you

So when a body or object is soak fully in the water it experiences an upward force that's very easy to
see because if I leave this ball you can see it bobs up, why? because water is pushing it with an upward
force and this upward force is also known as upthrust or buoyant force

You can also try it at your house you just need a bucket of water and a plastic ball

How to measure the upward force?

Do you know that our object feels lighter when it’s held in water as compared to air? Why is that?

It’s because of the upward force water so the difference of the weight in air and weight held in
water will give us the amount of upward force

For example

The object weight 500g in air then the weight of the object immersed in water, the weight of object
become 300g, so there is a loss in weight when the ball is held in water.

Why is there a loss in weight?

It’s because of the upward force of the water and the weight in water is called as the apparent
weight because the object seems to lose weight and how much is this apparent loss in weight.

Loss in weight

=real wt-apparent wt

=500g- 300g
 =200g

The loss in weight is 200g

We know that upward force is contributing to this loss in weight so the upward force is actually the
loss in weight which is 200g

Part2 “Upward force is equal to the weight of the water displaced by it”

Example

Tilt the large beaker so that the displaced water goes into the smaller beaker then put the object
(ball) in large beaker.

then measure the weight of the water displaced, pour the displaced water into the weight scale. The
weight of water displaced= 200g

The upward force and the weight of liquid displaced are both 200g, they are equal

Archimedes is right
 When a body is immersed fully or partially in a fluid, it experiences an upward force that is equal to
the weight of the fluid displaced by it