Density and Upthrust

2015 EdExcel A Level Physics
Topic 4
Density and upthrust

What is Density?
Density is Mass per unit volume

How closely packed the matter (‘stuff’) is within an object
Mass m
Density = ρ=
Volume V
More dense Less dense

Example
What is the density of a piece of wood of volume 4m3
and mass 1600kg?
Example
What is the density of a piece of wood of volume 4m3
and mass 1600kg?
ρ = m/V
=1600 / 4 = 400 kgm-3
Practice Questions
1) If a mixture of gasses has a density of 1.6kgm-3, what is
the volume of 12kg of air?
2) Calculate the density of Nitrogen. If the volume of
container is 1m3 and the mass of nitrogen is 0.40kg.
3) A container has a volume of 1x10-4m3. If the density of
the gas present in that container is 1360kgm-3 . What is
the mass of gas?
Density examples
Object Mass/kg Volume/m3 Density/
kgm-3
Piece of 0.5 893

wood
The air in a 0.064 1.2

balloon
Aluminium 320 0.12

sheet
Density examples
Object Mass/kg Volume/m3 Density/
kgm-3
Piece of 0.5 5.6x10-4 893

wood
The air in a 0.077 0.064 1.2

balloon
Aluminium 320 0.12 2700

sheet
Float or sink?
Water has a density of 1.0 gcm-3
=1000 kgm-3
If an object has a density less than water, it floats
If it has the same density as the medium it

suspends
If an object has a density greater than water, it

sinks.
Floating
The density of an object tells whether it will float or not. For
example:
The metal block is ______ The wooden block will is

dense than water and so it ______ dense than water
will _______. and so it will ________.
Upthrust in Fluids
When an object is completely or partially
submerged in a liquid, the liquid exerts a force
on the object. This upward force is called
upthrust. We can use my principle to calculate
how big that upthrust is:
Upthrust
Upthrust = weight of fluid Weight

displaced
Upthrust in Fluids
Upthrust
Small weight
Weight
Large weight
Small upthrust
Large upthrust
Example 1
A block of copper is suspended from a Newton meter. It is then
submerged in water. The block’s volume is 10m3. If copper has
a density of 960kgm-3 calculate:
1) The block’s mass
Example 1
A block of copper is suspended from a Newton meter. It is then
submerged in water. The block’s volume is 10m3. If copper has a density
of 960kgm-3 calculate:
1) The block’s mass
Solution:
V = 10m3
ρ = 960kgm-3
m = ρV
m = 960x10=9600 kg
Example 1 cont.
2) Calculate the block’s weight (what the Newton meter reads
before submerging)
3) Calculate the weight of the water the block displaces (i.e. the
upthrust)
Example 1 cont.
2) Calculate the block’s weight (what the Newton meter reads before
submerging)
Solution:
w = mg
w = 9600x9.8 = 94080 kgms-2
3) Calculate the weight of the water the block displaces (i.e. the
upthrust)
upthrust = weight of fluid displaced
upthrust = density of water x volume of water displaced x g
upthrust = 1000 x10 x 9.8=98000 N
Example 2
The swimming Raft is made of solid square pine wood having
mass 9600kg. If the raft is floating determine how much of the raft
is beneath the surface?
Example 2
The swimming Raft is made of solid square pine wood having
mass 9600kg. If the raft is floating determine how much of the raft
is beneath the surface?
Solution:
𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑎𝑓𝑡 = 𝑤 = 𝑚𝑔
𝑤 = 2400𝑥9.8 = 23520 𝑘𝑔𝑚𝑠-2
As the raft is floating
𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑎𝑓𝑡 = 𝑢𝑝𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟

Example 2 cont.
𝑢𝑝𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑡 = 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑥 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑥𝑔
𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑑 = 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑥 𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑡ℎ 𝑥 ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡

𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑑 = 4 𝑥4 𝑥 ℎ = 16ℎ
𝑢𝑝𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑡 = 1000 𝑥 16ℎ 𝑥 9.8 = 156800ℎ
As the raft is floating
𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑎𝑓𝑡 = 𝑢𝑝𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟

23520 =156800 ℎ
ℎ = 0.15m
Practice Question
This ball of radius 5 cm and density 7450kgm-3. The
ball is suspended from a Newton meter and placed in
water. What will the reading on the Newton meter be?
Practice Question cont.
This block of granite is a cube of
density 2500kgm-3. The cube is
suspended from a Newton meter and
placed in water. The reading on the
Newton meter decreased by 0.02N.
What is the size of the cube?

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2015 EdExcel A Level Physics

Density and upthrust

Density is Mass per unit volume

More dense Less dense

Piece of 0.5 893

The air in a 0.064 1.2

Aluminium 320 0.12

Piece of 0.5 5.6x10-4 893

The air in a 0.077 0.064 1.2

Aluminium 320 0.12 2700

If an object has a density less than water, it floats

If it has the same density as the medium it

If an object has a density greater than water, it

The metal block is ______ The wooden block will is

Upthrust = weight of fluid Weight

As the raft is floating

𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑎𝑓𝑡 = 𝑢𝑝𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟

𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑑 = 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑥 𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑡ℎ 𝑥 ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡

As the raft is floating

𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑎𝑓𝑡 = 𝑢𝑝𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟

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