About Buoyancy
When will objects float, and when will they sink? Learn how buoyancy works and the forces involved by experimenting with objects, like blocks, materials with different shapes, a bottle with substances inside, and blocks in a boat, in a pool with a fluid that can be modified.
How to play Buoyancy
Everything is hands-on: drag, click and experiment — the simulation reacts instantly. When will objects float, and when will they sink?
Questions & answers
- What is Buoyancy?
- Buoyancy is a free interactive simulation from PhET Interactive Simulations (University of Colorado Boulder) that you can play right in your browser on crumble.lol — no downloads and no sign-up. When will objects float, and when will they sink? Learn how buoyancy works and the forces involved by experimenting with objects, like blocks, materials with different shapes, a bottle with substances inside, and blocks in a boat, in a pool with a fluid that can be modified.
- What can kids learn from Buoyancy?
- It helps kids explore: identify the variables that affect whether an object sinks or floats in a liquid. predict whether an object will sink or float when placed in a liquid. describe the forces that act on a completely or partially submerged object. predict the apparent weight of a completely or partially submerged object of known mass and volume. relate the buoyant force on an object to the weight of the liquid it displaces (archimedes’ principle). describe how the buoyant force is related to an object's relative density to the fluid. compare the buoyancy of objects with different shapes and the same volume. explain how to control that an object floats, sinks, or stays at depth without sinking to the bottom. understand the basic principle of a submarine. calculate the weight that a boat can carry without sinking.
- What age is Buoyancy good for?
- It is designed for high school up to university, and curious kids outside that range can absolutely enjoy poking around it too.
- Is Buoyancy free to play?
- Yes — Buoyancy is completely free on crumble.lol and runs fully in your browser on computers and tablets.