scimath
Crown Leverage
Artist: Catherine-Jillian Maguire
A creative way of showing the story of how Archimedes detected the fraud of a king’s commissioned crown. Archimedes’ Law of Buoyancy and his Law of the Lever are both present in this picture. The wreath is suspended on one end of the scale and the equal in mass of gold suspended from the other end, which are both immersed in water. The scale tilts in the direction of the gold, showing that the wreath has a greater volume than the gold, and so its density is less than that of gold. It must then be an alloy of gold and some lighter material, proving it a fraudulent crown.
Crown Leverage
Artist: Catherine-Jillian Maguire
A creative way of showing the story of how Archimedes detected the fraud of a king’s commissioned crown. Archimedes’ Law of Buoyancy and his Law of the Lever are both present in this picture. The wreath is suspended on one end of the scale and the equal in mass of gold suspended from the other end, which are both immersed in water. The scale tilts in the direction of the gold, showing that the wreath has a greater volume than the gold, and so its density is less than that of gold. It must then be an alloy of gold and some lighter material, proving it a fraudulent crown.