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1-036-NeutralBuoyancy-ModelingScenario

Author(s): John Sieben

Texas Lutheran University, Seguin TX USA

Keywords: Density buoyancy Archimedes’ Principle float neutral buoyance

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Abstract

Resource Image An object may hang suspended at, say, ten foot depth in a column of water if at ten feet underwater the density of the object equals the density of water. We study this phenomenon

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Article Context

Resource Type
Differential Equation Type
Technique
Qualitative Analysis
Application Area
Course
Course Level
Lesson Length
Technology
Approach
Skills
Key Scientific Process Skills
Assessment Type
Pedagogical Approaches
Vision and Change Core Competencies - Ability
Principles of How People Learn
Bloom's Cognitive Level

Description

Things float or they don’t.  Well, it’s not quite that simple. In this exercise we lead students through applications of several laws of physics to develop and solve differential equations that will predict where in a water column a weight with an attached lift bag will become neutrally buoyant and thus float.  In this sense “float” means to be suspended in the water column (not float on the surface.) The weight + lift bag is an interesting (though greatly simplified) model of the human body, in that it is composed of components that will lose volume as pressure is increased (thus increasing density) and parts that will maintain constant volume and density with increasing pressure.

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Authors

Author(s): John Sieben

Texas Lutheran University, Seguin TX USA

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