Question

An object with a density of 0.85 g/cc is dropped into each of the two beakers shown below. Beaker 1 has a density of 0.5 g/cc. Beaker 2 has a density of 1 g/cc. What will happen to the object in each case?

Answer 1

The object will sink in the liquid in beaker 1.

The object will float in the liquid in beaker 2

Step-by-step explanation:

The density of an object relative to the density of a fluid determines if the object floats or sink in a fluid. The density of a material is the measure of the amount of mass of that material packed into a unit volume of that material.

For the beaker 1, the liquid in this beaker has a density of 0.5 g/cc, which is lesser than the density of the object (0.85 g/cc). This means that the object will add more mass than there should be to the volume of the space it displaces within the field. This results in the object sinking in the fluid.

For beaker 2, the liquid in this beaker has a density of 1 g/cc, which is more than the density of the object (0.85 g/cc). This means that the object will add less mass than there should be to the volume of the space it displaces within the field. This results in the object floating in the fluid.