Question

You are provided with a hollow iron ball A of volume 15cm³ and mass 12 g and a solid iron ball B of mass 12 g. Both are placed on the surface of water contained in a large tube. Find the thrust on each ball. Which ball will sink? Give a reason.

Answer 1

The hollow iron ball will not experience any thrust as it does not displace any fluid, while the solid iron ball will displace an amount of water equal to its own volume and thus will not sink.

Step-by-step explanation:

According to Archimedes' principle, an object submerged in a fluid experiences an upward force called buoyant force. The buoyant force is equal to the weight of the fluid that the object displaces. So, to find the thrust on each ball, we need to calculate the weight of the fluid displaced by each ball.

The volume of the hollow iron ball A is given as 15 cm³. Since it is hollow, it does not displace any fluid and therefore experiences no thrust. The solid iron ball B displaces an amount of water equal to its own volume. To calculate the volume of iron ball B, we need to use its density, which is not provided in the question.

So, in this case, we cannot determine the thrust on ball A (hollow iron ball) as it does not displace any fluid. But ball B (solid iron ball) will displace an amount of water equal to its own volume. Therefore, it will experience a buoyant force and will not sink.