What quantity did you change?
Labs / Physics
Buoyancy Tank
Drop a block into the fluid, then drag it up or down and let go. It settles where the upward buoyant force — the weight of the fluid it pushes aside — exactly matches its own weight. Change the block's density and size, or pour a heavier fluid, and watch the waterline slice through it at a new depth.
Labs / Physics / Buoyancy Tank
Buoyancy Tank
Drop a block into the fluid, then drag it up or down and let go. It settles where the upward buoyant force — the weight of the fluid it pushes aside — exactly matches its own weight. Change the block's density and size, or pour a heavier fluid, and watch the waterline slice through it at a new depth.
Why it matters
Why explore this?
Physics explains how changes in forces, energy, motion, and matter produce results we can measure. This model lets you test one part of that relationship at a time.
Explore
Try the model
W 0 NF 0 Nsub 0 %floating
Investigate
Questions to test
Predict first, try it in the model, then use what you observe to answer.
What to try
- Set the block lighter than water, then heavier. Where does the waterline end up in each case?
- Does making the block bigger while keeping its density fixed change the submerged fraction at all?
- What block density makes exactly half of it stick out of plain water?
- Switch from oil to brine without touching the block. Why does it suddenly ride higher?
- Can you find a density where the block hovers fully underwater without sinking or rising?
Explain
Make sense of what happened
Name the quantity you changed, the quantity that responded, and the physical rule connecting them. Use a readout or visible change as evidence.
Check
Before you leave
What measurable result changed?
Which physical idea connects them?
If you can answer all three using evidence from the model, you understand the main idea. If not, return to Explore and change one setting at a time.