Buoyancy: Floating and Sinking

This scene takes students at sea to explore a submarine floating. As they explore the scene students will observe the forces acting on the submarine and consider their effects. The scene displays the forces’ direction and size, and students will develop an understanding of why the boat floats.

# Learning objectives

Know That Floating Object Experience Upthrust or Buoyancy{.info}

Be bale to describe displacement of water caused by an object{.info}

Be able to explain that upthrust by displaced water causes an object to float{.info}

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# The Forces{.objective .objective1}

In this section the forces involved in floating and sinking are described. Detail of upthrust and weight are outlined as stand alone forces, and how they affect an objects motion. Students should observe the submarine and identify the individual forces acting on the object.

# Displacement of Water{.objective .objective2}

In this section, the displacement of water by the submarine is described. Here, the impact of mass on weight will be outlined and the impact the obect has as it pushes on the surface of the water. The main points will be that the object will push water away from its original space away from the object, and the volume displaced is the same as the volume of the object.

# Push Back & Float{.objective .objective3}

In this section the effect of the displaced water will be described. The details of how water pushes back on the submarine as it tries to flow back to its original space. The push back of the water is the cause of the force upthrust, which explains why objects float. As long as the upthrust is equal to the weight of the object, it will float.

# Teacher Resources

### Download Teacher Notes

[](https://data.avncloud.com/activities/790506/files/Buoyancy%20Floating+and+Sinking+Teacher+Notes+only.pdf?date=1675179487&size=959495&md5=5f22bb095a6f0c7b24eae62e00824306)

### Student Quiz Answers Document

[](https://data.avncloud.com/activities/790511/files/Buoyancy%20Floating+and+Sinking+Answers+quiz.pdf?date=1675180016&size=499614&md5=b5ec9bb97e291450281e95815e8d809a)

### Download Student Quiz Document

[](https://data.avncloud.com/activities/790507/files/Buoyancy%20Floating+and+Sinking+Quiz+only.pdf?date=1675179624&size=94734&md5=bf9c12d6e4b2e7b8436cee611bc8ad1e)