Question

Use the diagram to answer the following question:

What will the 5g cube do in the beaker of water?

a diagram that shows a 5g mass in a beaker with 4ml of water that overflowed into a graduated cylinder.
It will sink because the mass of the water that is displaced is more than the mass of the block.
It will sink because the mass of the water that is displaced is less than the mass of the block.
It will float because the mass of the water that is displaced is less than the mass of the block.
It will float because the mass of the water that is displaced is more than the mass of the block.

Answers

GPT-4o mini
To determine what the 5g cube will do in the beaker of water, we need to consider the principle of buoyancy, specifically Archimedes' principle. This principle states that an object submerged in a fluid experiences an upward force equal to the weight of the fluid that it displaces.

1. If the object (the 5g cube) is denser than the fluid (water), it will sink.
2. If the object is less dense than the fluid, it will float.

In your scenario, you mention that a 5g cube is placed in 4ml of water. The weight of the water that is displaced will also be proportional to the volume of the water displaced. Since 1ml of water weighs approximately 1g, 4ml of water weighs approximately 4g.

Given the options provided:

- The 5g cube has a mass of 5g.
- The water displaced (4ml) has a mass of 4g.

Since the mass of the water displaced (4g) is less than the mass of the cube (5g), the cube is denser than the water and will sink.

Thus, the correct answer is:

**It will sink because the mass of the water that is displaced is less than the mass of the block.**