Exercise 5(A) — Short Answer Type

Question 1
What is meant by the term buoyancy?
Answer
The property of liquid to exert an upward force on a body immersed in it, is
called buoyancy.

Question 2
What is the cause of upthrust? At which point it can be considered to act?
Answer
Upthrust or buoyant force arises due to the differences in pressure acting on the
submerged object. The fluid exerts pressure on all sides of the object, and the
pressure is greater at greater depths. The pressure difference between the top
and bottom of an object creates an upward force (i.e., upthrust) that opposes the
weight of the object.
Upthrust acts on the body in upward direction at the centre of buoyancy (i.e., the
centre of gravity of the displaced liquid).
Question 3
State three characteristic properties of upthrust.
Answer
The upthrust has the following three characteristic properties:
1.Larger the volume of a body submerged in a fluid, greater is the upthrust.
2.For the same volume of a body inside a fluid, more the density of fluid, greater is
the upthrust.
3.The upthrust acts on the body in upward direction at the centre of buoyancy i.e.,
the centre of gravity of the displaced fluid.

Question 4
A piece of wood if left under water, comes to the surface. Explain the reason.
Answer
When a piece of wood is left under water, two forces act on it, (i) it's weight (i.e.,
the force due to gravity) W which pulls it downwards, and (ii) the upthrust
FB due to water which pushes the wood upwards. The piece of wood comes to the
surface because upthrust on the wood is more than the weight of the wood
(i.e.,FB > W ).
Question 5
Will a body weigh more in air or in vacuum when weighed with a spring balance?
Give a reason for your answer.
Answer
A body weighs more in vacuum than in air when weighed with a spring balance
because an upthrust acts on the body in air due to which it appears lighter than
it's actual weight.

Question 6
A metal solid cylinder tied to a thread is hanging from the hook of a spring balance.
The cylinder is gradually immersed into water contained in a jar. What changes do
you expect in the readings of spring balance? Explain your answer.
Answer
When a metal solid cylinder tied to a thread, hanging from the hook of a spring
balance is gradually immersed into water contained in a jar, then it is observed that
the readings on the spring balance decrease.
This loss of weight is due to the upthrust (or buoyant force) of water on the
cylinder, hence the reading decreases and the cylinder appears to be lighter.
Question 7
A body dipped into a liquid experiences an upthrust. State two factors on which upthrust on the body
depends.
Answer
The factors on which upthrust on the body depends are —
1.Volume of the body immersed in the liquid (fluid), and
2.Density of the liquid (fluid) in which the body is submerged.

Question 8
How is the upthrust related to the volume of the body submerged in a liquid ?
Answer
Larger the volume of a body submerged in a fluid, greater is the upthrust.

Question 9
A bunch of feathers and a stone of the same mass are released simultaneously in air. Which will fall
faster and why? How will your observation be different if they are released simultaneously in vacuum ?
Answer
When a bunch of feathers and a stone of same mass are allowed to fall in air, the stone falls faster
than the bunch of feathers.
The reason is that upthrust due to air on stone is less than that on the bunch of feathers because
the volume of stone is less than that of the bunch of feathers
of same mass.
If they both are released simultaneously in vacuum, they will fall together because there will be no
upthrust.

Question 10
A small block of wood is held completely immersed in (i) water, (ii) glycerine and then released. In each
case, what do you observe ? Explain the difference in your observation in the two cases.
Answer
When we place a small block of wood in water and another identical block of wood in glycerine, we
notice that both the blocks float but the volume of block immersed in glycerine is smaller as
compared to the volume of block immersed in water.
The reason is that the density of glycerine is more than that of water and so it exerts more
buoyant force and hence, less part of block is immersed.

Question 11
A sphere of iron and another of wood, both of same radius are placed on the surface of water. State
which of the two will sink? Give reason to your answer.
Answer
When a sphere of iron and wood are placed in water then the sphere of iron will sink.
The reason is that ρiron > ρwater, so the weight of iron sphere will be more than upthrust due to water on
it. But ρwood < ρwater, so sphere of wood will float will it's that much volume submerged inside water by
which upthrust due to water on it balances it's weight.
Question 12
How does the density of material of a body determine whether it will float or sink in water?
Answer
The bodies of density greater than that of the liquid sink in it, while bodies of average
density equal to or smaller than that of the liquid float on it.

Question 13
It is easier to lift a heavy stone under water than in air. Explain.
Answer
It is easier to lift a heavy stone under water than in air because due to the effect of
upthrust, the stone experiences an upward buoyant force that balances the true weight of
the stone which is acting in the opposite direction.
Hence, the weight of the stone immersed in water appears less than the actual weight.

Exercise 5(A) — Long Answer Type

Question 1
What do you understand by the term upthrust of a fluid? Describe an experiment to show
its existence.
Answer
The upward force exerted on a body by the fluid in which it is submerged is called upthrust or
buoyant force.
Experiment —
If a piece of cork is placed on a surface of water in a tub, it floats with nearly 2552​ of it's volume inside
the water. If the cork is pushed into the water and then released, it again comes to the surface of water
and floats.
If the cork is kept immersed, our fingers experience some upward force. This upward force is the
buoyant force.

Question 2
Describe an experiment to show that a body immersed in a liquid appears lighter than it really is
Answer
.
The weight of body immersed in a liquid appears to be less than it's actual weight due to the effect
of upthrust.
Experiment
Lifting of a bucket full of water from a well —
Take an empty bucket and tie a long rope to it. If the bucket is immersed in the water of a well keeping
one end of rope in hand and the bucket is pulled when it is deep inside water, we notice that it is easy to
pull the bucket as long as it is inside water.
Question 3
A body held completely immersed inside a liquid experiences two forces (i) F1, the force due to gravity
and (ii) F2, the buoyant force. Draw a diagram showing the direction of these forces acting on the body
and state the conditions when the body will float or sink.

Answer

Below diagram shows the direction of forces acting on a

body completely immersed inside a liquid:

Whether the body will float or sink will depend on the

relative values of F1 and F2.
(i) If F1 <= F2 then the body will float.
(ii) If F1 > F2 then the body will sink.

Question 5
Describe an experiment to verify Archimedes' principle.
Answer
Experiment —
 Take a solid (say a metallic piece). Suspend a solid
by a thin thread from the hook of a spring balance.
Note it's weight. Now take a eureka can and fill it
with water to it's spout. Arrange a measuring
cylinder below the spout of the eureka can.
Now, immerse the solid gently into water of the
eureka can. The water displaced by it gets collected
in the measuring cylinder, as shown in figure. When
water stops dripping through the spout, note the
weight of the solid and the volume of water collected
in the measuring cylinder.
As shown in figure, the solid weighs 300 gf in air
and 200 gf when it is completely immersed in water.
The volume of water collected in the ,measuring
cylinder is 100 ml i.e., 100 cm3.

Therefore, loss in weight = 300gf - 200gf = 100gf [Equation 1]

Volume of water displaced = Volume of solid = 100 cm3
Since, density of water = 1 g cm-3
Therefore, weight of water displaced = 100 gf [Equation 2]
From eqns. (i) and (ii)
Weight of water displaced = Upthrust or loss in weight.
Thus, the weight of water displaced by a solid is equal to the loss in weight of the solid. This verifies
Archimedes' principle.