Archimedes' Law – Archimedes and a Golden Crown

Archimedes, a renowned scientist, was tasked by a king to determine whether a crown was made of pure gold or if some gold had been replaced with a less dense metal like silver. Archimedes realized that even if the fake crown and a lump of gold of the same weight would balance on a scale in air, their volumes would differ because silver is less dense than gold. This means that the fake crown, containing silver, would have a larger volume than an equivalent mass of pure gold. Archimedes' solution took advantage of the principle of buoyancy. When both the crown and the gold were submerged in water, the fake crown, with its larger volume, would displace more water, leading to a greater buoyant force acting on it. This increased buoyant force would make the fake crown appear lighter underwater compared to the lump of pure gold. As a result, the balance beam would tip, revealing whether the crown was authentic or not. This method, known as the Archimedes Principle, allowed Archimedes to distinguish between the fake and genuine crown by observing the difference in buoyant forces when submerged in water.