A Multipurpose Device for Some Hydrostatics Questions

A number of well-known hydrostatics problems dealing with Archimedes' principle concern a loaded boat floating in a pool.^1–4 Examples of this sort of problem include: 1. (a) If a stone is thrown overboard from a boat floating in a pool, does the water level in the pool rise, fall, or remain unchanged? (b) If a hole is made in the bottom of the boat so that the boat sinks, does the water level in the pool change? If so, when does the change begin (when water first begins to enter the boat or later)? 2. A boat floating in a pool carries a mass M that can either be placed on the raft or hung below the raft. (a) How does the water level in the pool compare in the two cases? (b) In which case does the raft float higher in the water? This paper describes a simple low-cost experimental setup that can be used to demonstrate the solutions to such problems in a concrete and dramatic way.