So, how do you keep a ship that weighs tons floating on the water? Try this experiment to see how!

Staying Afloat

Directions:

1. Write down all of your observations and the answers to any questions asked.

2. Using your ruler to measure, cut two squares out of the aluminum foil that measures eight inches on each side.

3. Wrap eight of your paper clips with one of your squares of aluminum foil and squeeze it tightly.

4. Place it gently on the surface of the water in the bucket and let it go. What happened?

5. Fold the four sides of your other square up so that it forms a small plate and place the other eight paper clips into it. This is your boat!

6. Gently place this on the surface of the water and let it go. What happened to this one?

7. If the weights are the same between the ball and the boat, Why did one sink and one float?

You Be The Scientist:

1. Write down what you think will happen if you put a small hole in the bottom of your boat. (Hypothesis)

2. Try it. (Experiment)

3. What happened? (Observation)

4. Why do you think that happened? (Conclusion)

Connecting to Aquarius
Buoyancy is governed by something we call Archimedes Principle. It states that

any body completely or partially submerged in a fluid (gas or liquid) at rest is acted upon by an upward, or buoyant, force the magnitude of which is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the body.

Aquarius weighs around 80 tons and the baseplate it's anchored to weighs 120 tons. These were transported by barge out to Conch Reef and lowered from the barge by a crane into the water.
Try these buoyancy math problems! Click Here!

Back To Ping Pong Divers.
Lesson design by Lucas Gillispie.