Archimedes, the King and the Crown
Sum up what you know about the story of Archimedes and how he solved the problem of the Kings crown by drawing a comic strip on the back of this paper. Divide the back of the page into 8 separate panels and illustrate the plot in colored pictures and words below.
1. The King asks Archimedes to figure out if his new crown is pure gold or alloy (half silver and half gold). The King explains that he gave a 5 pound cube of gold to a goldsmith and asked him to make a crown for him, but he suspects the goldsmith kept some of the gold and substituted silver in its place. Archimedes knows if he can find the volume of the crown he can solve the problem.
2. He realizes that silver is half as dense as gold and if the crown is alloy the crown would be too big. He can measure the size of regular objects like cubes and cylinders, but not irregular objects like crowns. He’s stumped and decides to head to the public baths to relax and get his mind off work.
3. Archimedes steps into the bath, causing water to overflow, and runs out shouting. “Eureka! I’ve discovered the answer to the question!” Appropriate drawings only!
4. Archimedes explains to the King that the crown would be twice the volume (twice as big) if the crown is made of half silver and half gold than it would be if it was made from 5 pounds of gold and now he has a way to measure the volume of irregular objects using water!.
5. Archimedes measures the volume of a 5 pound cube of gold by measuring its length, width, and height and builds a box of those dimensions.
6. Archimedes dunks the crown into water and catches the water that overflows into his box and the water overflows!
7. The King realizes the goldsmith has stolen half his gold!
8. The King orders the execution of the goldsmith (maybe he puts him into one of Archimedes giant catapults and flings him out to sea!).
Answer these questions too! Use pages 424-429 in the textbook if you need help.
a. What is volume? What is mass?
b. What is density? Write the formula for density. What is the SI unit of density?
c. What is Archimedes Principle? Explain why wood floats and rocks sink in terms of density. What is buoyancy? Which Principle explains buoyancy?