Rubber Duck and Sponge in Water

For my experiment, I chose to observe the differences in how water reacted with two very different items, a brand new sponge and a rubber duck. I first dropped the rubber duck into the water an immediately noticed that the water had a bouncy effect. The water surrounded the duck and prevented it from going too far below the surface. The duck, however, kept tipping over and would not stay upright. I then filled the duck with water and the weight of the water inside held it upright but the water was no longer able to keep it afloat. It went to the bottom of the bowl where it remained still. The water moved slightly but eventually settled. When I added the sponge to a separate bowl I only put half of it in. I noticed that the water that was being absorbed was moving upwards through the sponge. I dipped the sponge further into the water and more water moved upwards. In both cases, the water moved around the objects initially. With the unfilled rubber duck, it was constantly moving around where the duck was floating. It was almost as if the duck was pushing the water away from it as it floated around. When the duck was filled with water and sank to the bottom the water did not move around it anymore but instead encompassed it and became still. After the sponge was filled it floated on top and the water exhibited some of the same behaviors as when the empty duck was floating. Water was pushing itself away from the object as it floated. I had a few preconceived notions before the start of the experiment mostly in regards to how the items would react in the water. I expected the duck to float and the sponge to absorb water. What was unexpected was how the duck would only balance upright when filled with water. I attempted to fill it with varying amounts of water but it would not float upright. I also found it interesting that the sponge floated when filled with water. I had imagined that it might perhaps get saturated enough that it would move further below the surface.

Done