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Hot Air Balloon and Wood Block Float

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Part 1 – Buoyancy http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/buoyancy 1. Open the web browser and enter the link above into the address bar.
2. When the simulation page opens click “Run Now!”
3. Click the “Buoyancy Playground” tab at the top of the window.
4. Look in the yellow data box in the top left corner of the window. Record the mass (m), volume (V), and density (ρ) of the wood block.

5. In the middle of the screen there is a container of water. Record the volume of the water.

6. Drop the wood block into the water. Does the wood block float? Explain why or why not.

7. Place the block so that it is completely submerged in the water. Now what is the volume of the water? By how much did it change?

8. Write a …show more content…

e) Try dropping the 250 mass again but now observe the water carefully (ruler!) to compare the movement of water in the small tube to the movement of water in the wider pool. Why do you think these amounts are different?

f) Turn off atmospheric pressure. What happened? Explain your results using past observations.

Summary: Write a summary addressing the three objectives.

Part 4 – Balloons and Gas Buoyancy https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/balloons-and-buoyancy Student Instructions:
1. Why does a hot air balloon float even though it is so heavy?

2. What makes balloons float when they are full of air but not float when they are deflated?

3. Starting with a hot air balloon, figure out how to make the balloon float. What factors affect the balloon floating or sinking? Explain three of these factors and your understanding of why this works as it does.

4. Move to the rigid hollow sphere. What does it mean that the sphere is “rigid?”

5. Play with the parameters of the simulation and get the sphere to float. How is the sphere floating similar to and different from the floating hot air balloon?

6. How will you get the helium balloon to float? Explain how you plan to set all the parameters to get the balloon floating.

7. Set the parameters as you predicted above. Did it work? If so explain why this worked. If not explain why your predictions didn’t work

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