Name: _____________________________ Hr: ___

Chapter 10 Worksheet 1: Density & Pressure

1. A block of wood with a mass of 112 g has a volume of 125 mL. (1 mL = 1 cm3)
a. What is the density of this wood in grams per cubic centimeter?

b. What is the density of the wood in kg/m3?

c. What is the specific gravity of the wood?

2. A sculptor is going to make a life-size granite statue of Mr. Holloway. She decides to start
with a right circular cylinder of granite. The base of the granite has a radius of 0.50 m and a
height of 2.0 meters. (ρ = 2,700 kg/m3)
a. What is the volume of the cylinder? (V = πr2h)

b. What is the density of the cylinder (Hint: what is it made of?)?

c. What is the mass of the cylinder in kg?

d. What is the weight of the cylinder in Newtons?

e. What is the weight of the cylinder in pounds?

f. How will the weight of the statue (not the whole cylinder) compare to Mr. Holloway?

3. A chunk of metal has a specific gravity of 3.80. What is its density in kg/m3?

4. A rectangular block of material with a specific gravity of 2.45 has a mass of 70 kg. The base
of the block has dimensions of 0.2 m x 0.3 m.
a. What is the area of the base?

b. What is the density of the block in kilograms per m3?

c. What is the volume of the material?

d. What is the weight of the block?

e. How much pressure does the block exert on the ground?

5. How much pressure is exerted on a floor by a 50-kg model standing momentarily on a single
spiked heel (area = 0.05 cm2)?

6. How much pressure is exerted by a 1500 kg elephant standing on one foot (area = 800 cm2)?

7. How do snowshoes work?

 Chapter 10 Worksheet 2: Fluid Pressure

1. What is atmospheric pressure in pascals? In psi?

2. What causes the air pressure?

3. How much force is exerted on the upward facing side of a normal piece of typing paper lying
on a table? (This is probably most easily down with psi.)

4. Why can’t an astronaut on a space walk simply wear a scuba mask to give him air? Why
must he have that bulky suit?

5. What is the gauge pressure 1 meter deep in Lake Olathe?

6. What is the absolute pressure 1 meter deep in Lake Olathe?

7. What is the gauge pressure 10 meters deep in Lake Olathe?

8. What is the absolute pressure 10 meters deep in Lake Olathe?

Note: The pressure caused by a fluid can be calculated by the equation P = ρgh, but sometimes
all we want is the change in pressure between two points in a fluid. This can be calculated by the
equation ΔP = ρgΔh. Remember that the absolute pressure in a fluid can be found by adding the
atmospheric pressure above the fluid to the pressure caused by the fluid.

9. Mr. Holloway is deep-sea diving in Lake Olathe (recognize the irony?).

a. How much deeper would he have to dive to change the pressure on him by 100,000 Pa?
b. He dive until the gauge pressure is 300,000 Pa. How deep is he?
c. What is the absolute pressure on him in part b?

10. Cities (like Stilwell) build water towers to provide water pressure to homes like yours and
mine. Imagine a typical water tower with a height of 50 meters for this problem. A single pipe
carries water from the tower straight down to ground level and then out to homes in the area.
a. What is the pressure difference in the water pipe from the top of the tower to ground level?
b. What is the pressure difference in the water pipe from the top of the tower to a home that is
on a hill and is only 20 meters below the top of the tower?
Note: This demonstrates how the difference in height between the top of your local water tower
and your house determines the amount of water pressure you will have. You’ll also get more
water pressure in the basement then you will upstairs. Some homes have pumps that help supply
a greater water pressure.

11. Enough water is poured into each of the glasses shown below until the water has a depth of 3
cm. Which one will have the greatest pressure exerted on the bottom of the glass? Which one
will have the greatest force acting on the bottom of the glass?
 Ch 10 Worksheet 3: More with Pressure
Note: For each of these problems, estimate g = 10 m/s2 and 1 atm = 100,000 Pa
Equation reminder: Pg = ρgh Pabs = Pg + PATM

1. Sarah is scuba diving in an attempt to capture Nemo. She is 15 meters down into still water
when she checks her pressure gauge.
a. What pressure (in atm) will the gauge read?

b. What absolute pressure will be acting on her at that time?

2. A swimming pool measures 22.0 meters by 12.0 meters with a uniform depth of 2.0 meters.
a. What is the pressure from the water on the bottom of the pool?

b. What is the absolute pressure on the bottom of the pool?

c. What is the total force exerted on the bottom of the pool?

d. What is the absolute pressure exerted on the side of the pool very near the bottom?

3. How deep into a pool of water would you have to dive to experience a gauge pressure of one
atmosphere?

4. On the alien planet Zzyzh, the inhabitants swim in pools of liquid mercury. Mercury has a
density of 13,600 kg/m3. The acceleration of gravity on Zzyzh is the same as on Earth.
a. If Tnurit dives down to a depth of 2 meters, what pressure will be acting on him?
b. To what depth should he swim to experience a gauge pressure of 1 atm?

Note: A traditional barometer is one in which the pressure at the base of a column of fluid
is compared to the current atmospheric pressure. To make such a barometer work, the
column has to be as tall as needed to make about 1 atmosphere of pressure at the base. For
that reason, a water barometer would need to be as tall as your answer to question 3 and a
mercury barometer would need to be as tall as your answer to question 4b.

5. What major advantage does a mercury barometer offer compared to a water barometer?

6. Two coins are thrown into a swimming pool (My mom used to do this when I was a kid and
practicing my swimming. She used to paint the coins the same color as the bottom of the pool
though …wait a minute … ?!?). Coin A has twice the surface area as coin B and they both sink
to the bottom of the pool.
a. Which coin experiences the greater pressure?
b. Which coin experiences the greater force?

7. An angry physics student chucks their calculator into a pond. The calculator has dimensions
of 0.10 m by 0.05 m (Ignore the thickness). If the pond is 3 meters deep,
a. How much pressure is exerted on the top of the calculator?

b. How much force is exerted on the top of the calculator?

 Chapter 10 Worksheet 4
1. Two rectangular water tanks are filled to the same depth with water. Tank A has a bottom
surface area of 2 m2 and tank B has a bottom area of 4 m2. Which statement about the forces (FA
and FB) and pressures (PA and PB) at the bottom of the tanks is correct?
a. FA is greater than FB and PA is greater than PB.
b. FA is equal to FB and PA is less than PB.
c. FA is less than FB and PA is equal to PB.
d. FA is equal to FB and PA is equal to PB.

2. Explain how a suction cup functions.

3. In what direction do buoyant forces act?

4. State Archimedes’ principle.

5 For an object that is submerged in water is there more pressure on the bottom or the top of the
object? Why?

6. An object with a volume of 0.9 m3 is held completely under the surface of a pond. The object
has a mass of 1000 kg.
a. What volume of water is displaced by the object?
b. What is the density of water?
c. What is the mass of the water displaced by the object?
d. What is the weight of the water displaced by the object?
e. What is the buoyant force on the object?
f. What is the weight of the object?
g. Draw a free-body diagram of the object showing the two forces acting on it from parts e
and f. If released, will the object rise to the surface or sink?

h. What weight will the object seem to have under water?

i. What mass will the object seem to have under water?
j. How much less mass will the object seem to have while under water?

7. A geologist finds that a moon rock whose mass is 8.2 kg has an apparent mass of 6.18 kg
when submerged in water.
a. What mass of water was displaced?

b. What volume of water was displaced? What is the volume of the rock?

c. What is the density of the rock?

 Chapter 10 Worksheet 5
Use g = 10 m/s2, 1atm = 100,000 Pa and assume water to be of uniform density

1. An object dipped in water will seem to weigh less than it does in air. Is the force of gravity
on the object less in water than it is in air? Why does it seem lighter?

2. A boat has a mass of 135 kg and a volume of 0.15 m3. It is floating on the surface of a lake.
a. What is the buoyant force on the boat?
b. What weight of water is displaced by the boat?
c. What mass of water is displaced by the boat?
d. What volume of water is displaced by the boat?
e. What fraction of the boat is under water?
f. What is the density of the boat?

3. An object is completely submerged and has a volume of 2 m3. What is the buoyant force on
it? (Hint: volume displaced  mass displacedweight displaced buoyant force)

4. What is the buoyant force on a ship of mass 200,000 kg floating in the Atlantic? The density
of sea water is 1025 kg/m3. (this is a very easy problem)

5. A 20-pound toolbox displaces 5 pounds of water when totally submerged.

a. Will it float?
b. What is the buoyant force on the toolbox? What direction is the buoyant force?
c. How much will it seem to weigh when it is completely submerged?
d. What is the density of the toolbox? (It is easy to do this one if you think about the weight
and volume of the toolbox compared to the weight and volume of the displaced water.)

6. One pound pieces of pine, aluminum and lead are dropped over the side of a boat into a deep
fresh water lake. The pine floats while the aluminum and lead sink.
a. Is the buoyant force on the pine more than, less than or equal to one pound?
b. Is the buoyant force on the aluminum more than, less than or equal to one pound?
c. Which has a greater buoyant force acting on it, the lead or the aluminum? (Hint: both sink,
but lead is more dense than aluminum)

7. An object has a density of 800 kg/m3 and is placed in water. What fraction of it is under
water? What percent of it is under water?
8. An object has a volume of 5 m3. When placed in water it will float with 3 m3 of it below the
surface. What is its density?
9. An object has a density of 1200 kg/m3 and is placed in water. What fraction of it is under
water? What percent of it is under water?
10. A box with a mass of 300 kg has a density of 600 kg/m3.
a. Will it float?
b. What is its volume?
c. What fraction of it is below water?
c. What is the buoyant force acting upon it (Two main ways to do this. One is really easy)?

11. An object has a density of 2000 kg/m3 and a volume of 2 m3. The object is placed in water.
How much will it seem to weigh under water when submerged? (Hint: Find the weight of the
object and the buoyant force on it.) (This is a little tougher than the others.)
Special In-Class Practice

1. For each of the following pairs of values, circle the larger value for a floating object. Box any
pairs that are always equal in this situation.
a. volume of the object vs. volume of water displaced
b. weight of the object vs. weight of water displaced
c. density of the object vs. density of water
d. weight of the object vs. buoyant force
e. buoyant force vs. weight of water displaced

2. For each of the following pairs of values, circle the larger value for a totally submerged object
that naturally sinks. Box any pairs that are always equal in this situation.
a. volume of the object vs. volume of water displaced
b. weight of the object vs. weight of water displaced
c. density of the object vs. density of water
d. weight of the object vs. buoyant force
e. buoyant force vs. weight of water displaced

3. Each tire of an automobile has an area of 0.026 m2 in contact with the ground. The weight of
the automobile is 2.6 x 104 N. What is the pressure in the tires?
a. 3.1 x 106 Pa b. 6.5 x 106 Pa c. 2.5 x 105 Pa d. 1.0 x 106 Pa

4. A waterbed that is 1.5 m wide and 2.5 m long masses 108 kg. Assuming the entire lower
surface of the bed is in contact with the floor, what is the pressure the bed exerts on the floor?
a. 258 Pa b. 268 Pa c. 278 Pa d. 288 Pa

5. What pressure is exerted on a swimmer at the bottom of a 5.0 m deep swimming pool just
from the water (ignore atmospheric pressure)?
a. 0.5 atm b. 1.0 atm c. 1.5 atm d. 2.0 atm

6. What absolute pressure is exerted on a submarine at a depth of 8500 m in the Pacific Ocean?
(The density of sea water = 1025 kg/m3)

6. d 7. a 8. b 9. a, b
a. 8.6 x 106 Pa b. 9.5 x 106 Pa c. 8.7 x 106 Pa d. 8.7 x 107 Pa

7. According to legend, to determine whether the king’s crown was made of pure gold,
Archimedes measured the crown’s volume by determining how much water it displaced. The
density of gold is 19.3 g/cm3. If the crown’s mass were 600 g, what volume of water would have
been displaced if the crown were indeed made of pure gold?
a. 31.1 cm3 b. 114,000 cm 3 c. 22800 cm3 d. 1.81 x 103 cm3
5. a
4. d

8. A log with a density of 780 kg/m3 has a volume of 4.5 m3. When thrown into water, what
buoyant force will act on it? (Hint: Does it float?)
2. a,e 3. c

a. 3510 N b. 35,100 N c. 4500 N d. 44,100 N

9. For a floating object the buoyant force on an object is equal to which of the following?
(Choose all that apply)
Answers: 1. b,d,e

a. the weight of water displaced

b. the weight of the object
c. the weight of water with the same volume as the object.
 Ch 10 WS 6: More with Buoyancy
In the following diagram, W = weight, m = mass, V = volume, FB = buoyant force, ρ = density.

Floating Water Sinking Water

Object Displaced Object Displaced

WH20 disp FB

WH2Odisp FB
W o FB
Wo FB
Vo VH2Odisp
Vo VH2Odisp
Wo WH2Odisp
Wo WH2Odisp
mo mH2Odisp
mo mH2Odisp
ρo ρH2O
ρo ρH2O
1. For a floating object, how does the buoyant force compare to the weight of the object? Why must this be true?

2. For a floating object, how does the buoyant force compare to the weight of water displaced? Is this always true?
Sez who?

3. For a sinking object, how does the buoyant force compare to the weight of the object? Why must this be true?

4. For a sinking object, how does the buoyant force compare to the weight of water displaced? Is this always true?
Sez who?

5. A floating object has a specific gravity of 0.8. How much of it will be below the surface of the water?

6. An object weighs 200 Newtons. When placed in a full bucket of water, 50 Newtons of water spill out over the
edge. What is the buoyant force on the object and how much does it seem to weigh when in the water?

7. A 40 Newton log is floating in a Lake. 75 % of the log is below the surface.

a. What is the buoyant force on the log?
b. What is the weight of water displaced by the log?
c. What is the mass of water displaced by the log?
d. What is the volume of water displaced by the log?
e. What is the specific gravity of the log?

8. A 100-Newton rock only seems to weigh 80 Newtons while under water.

a. What is the buoyant force on the rock?
b. What is the weight of water displaced by the rock?
c. What is the volume of water displaced by the rock? (Hint: first find the mass of the water)
d. What is the density of the rock?

9. A particular ship (floating) has a total mass of 3.0 x 106 kg.

a. What is the buoyant force on the ship?
b. What is the mass of water displaced by the ship?
c. What is the volume of water displaced by the ship?
d. Does the ship have a volume greater than, equal to or less than the volume of the water it displaces?
 Chapter 10: Worksheet 7
Fluids in motion

1. What is the equation of continuity?

2. According to this equation, what happens to the velocity of a river when it

flows into a narrow passage?

3. Create your own physics problem using the equation of continuity in the space
below. First write out the problem and then solve it.

4. State Bernoulli’s principle.

5. Write Bernoulli’s equation.

6. How does the Bernoulli principle help to explain the flight of planes (it isn’t the
whole story but it is part of the story)?

7. How do prairie dogs prevent themselves from being suffocated in their

burrows?

8. How does a straw work?

 Ch 10 Chapter Review

I. Unit 10: Fluids

A. Students should know and be able to use the definition of density and specific gravity.
B. Students should know and be able to use the definition of pressure.
C. Students should be able to calculate the fluid and absolute pressure within any fluid given
the density and depth.
1. Students should be able to explain how a mercury barometer or manometer functions.
They should be able to calculate the pressure of a gas with these devices.
D. Students should be able to apply Pascal’s Principle to a hydraulic lift.
E. Students should be able to explain buoyancy from their understanding of fluid pressure.
F. Students should be able to calculate the buoyant force on an object using Archimedes’
principle.
G. Students should be able to make comparisons between the weight, mass, volume and
density of an object and the water it displaces.
H. Students should be able to use the equation of continuity to relate the area and speed of a
flowing fluid.
I. Students should be able to apply Bernoulli’s principle to relate the speed and pressure
exerted by a fluid and to explain some of the lift experienced by planes.

1. A 50-kg person is walking on crutches and supports all her weight on the crutch tips, each of
which is circular with a radius of 2.0 cm. What total pressure is exerted on the floor? Express
your answer in N/cm2.

2. A plastic block of dimensions 2 cm x 3 cm x 4 cm has a mass of 30 g. What is its density in

g/cm3? What is its density in kg/m3? What is its specific gravity?

3. Convert 1.5 atmospheres into pascals.

4. 50 cm3 of wood is floating on water and 50 cm3 of iron is totally submerged. Which has the
greater buoyant force acting on it? (Think of the amount of water they displace)

5. a. What is the weight of a 5-m3 piece of iron? (ρsteel = ρiron = 7800 kg/m3)
b. What is the weight of the water displaced by a submerged 5-m3 piece of iron?
c. How much would the iron seem to weight under water?

6. What is the density of a steel sphere with a radius of 0.02 meters?

7. a. What is the pressure due to water exerted on a submarine at a depth of 100 meters?
b. What is the absolute pressure on the sub?

8. What total amount of force acts on the top of a coin at the bottom of a five-meter deep pool if
the top side has a surface area of 2.8 x 10-4 m2?

9. A diver has a pressure gauge that reads zero when at the surface of a pond. When it shows a
pressure of 2.5 atm, approximately how deep is he?

10. In a section of river with a cross sectional area of 5.0 m2 the water is flowing at 2 m/s. At a
later point, the river is flowing at 10 m/s. What is the cross sectional area of the river here?
12. Crayfish live in the river from the previous question. In which of the two river locations
would it be easier for a crayfish in a burrow in the riverbank to push out into the water?

11. An 10.0-kg raft is floating in a pond.

a. What is the buoyant force on it?
b. If the raft has a specific gravity of 0.1, what is its volume?
c. What percentage of the raft’s volume will be under water?

13. A man waiting for a local train is standing at the edge of the platform when an express
rushes by. Will he feel pushed toward the train, away from the train or in the direction of the
train?

14. Why does the buoyant force always act upward?

15. What is Archimedes’ principle?

16. An object placed in water sinks. What can you say about the density of the object? How
does its weight compare to the buoyant force? How could you determine its volume?

Challenge: A floating object has a total volume of 1.0 m3 and 80% of it is below the surface of a
pool of water. What is the weight of the object in air? (This isn’t too tough if you approach it
the right way.)