Laboratory Experiment 5
Laboratory Experiment 5
3. Objective:
The activity aims to determine the specific gravity of fluid using Archimedes Principle.
Buoyancy is an upward force exerted by a fluid that opposes the weight of an immersed
object. In a column of fluid, pressure increases with depth as a result of the weight of the overlying fluid.
Thus a column of fluid, or an object submerged in the fluid, experiences greater pressure at the bottom
of the column than at the top. This difference in pressure results in a net force that tends to accelerate
an object upwards. The magnitude of that force is proportional to the difference in the pressure
between the top and the bottom of the column, and (as explained by Archimedes' principle) is also
equivalent to the weight of the fluid that would otherwise occupy the column, i.e. the displaced fluid.
For this reason, an object whose density is greater than that of the fluid in which it is
submerged tends to sink. If the object is either less dense than the liquid or is shaped appropriately (as
in a boat), the force can keep the object afloat. This can occur only in a reference frame which either
has a gravitational field or is accelerating due to a force other than gravity defining a "downward"
direction (that is, a non-inertial reference frame). In a situation of fluid statics, the net upward buoyancy
force is equal to the magnitude of the weight of fluid displaced by the body.
Operation of the hydrometer is based on “Archimedes Principle” that a solid suspended in a
fluid will be buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the submerged part of the
suspended solid. Thus, the lower the density of the substance, the farther the hydrometer will sink.
eq. 5.1
Where,
F = Buoyant Force
b
V = Volume submerged/displaced
s
6. Procedures:
7. Laboratory Report
1. 4.
2. 5.
3.
9. Analysis/Computation/s:
12. Conclusion/s
13. Documentation