Question

A 15 cm3 block of gold weighs 2.8 N. It is carefully submerged in a tank of mercury. One cm3 of mercury weighs 0.13 N.

a. Will the mercury be displaced by the gold?
b. Will the gold sink or float in the mercury?

Answer 1

The density of gold is 2.8 N / 15 = 0.18 units
The density of mercury is 0.13/1 = 0.13 units

Since the density of gold is more than density of mercury, it will sink.
Since the gold will sink, it will displace mercury, but less than its own volume