A Peek into Science Class | February

Bouyancy – A force in a liquid pushing against an object in the liquid

In Science class we wanted to find out what would happen when we place peeled and unpeeled oranges into a tank of water. We hypothesized that the peeled orange will splash. Consequently we thought the unpeeled orange would make bubbles. First we peeled one orange. Next we left the peel on the second orange. Last, we dropped the oranges in the water. We observed the peeled orange sank while the unpeeled orange floated. We discovered that the orange peel traps air. So even though it is heavier, it is more buoyant. The peeled orange had no air, so it sinks.

 

Density- the mass in a specified volume

In a similar experiment, we wanted to see what will happen if we drop a lemon and a lime in the water. The lemon floated and the lime sank. We can concluded the lime is denser than the lemon.

A note from Mr. John:

I did some research for more information. According to the USDA website, a lime is 88.26% water by weight and a lemon is 87.4% which is a minimal difference. This could mean that lemons have higher air content, but I’m still researching why the lemon floats and the lime sinks.

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