Skip to Content Go to sign in Skip to Primary Navigation Skip to Secondary Navigation Skip to Page Navigation Skip to Header Navigation Skip to Footer Navigation Read more about accessability options and our navigation

Physics Classroom is making strides to make our site accessible to everyone. Our site contains 6 navigation areas. The Primary, Secondary, and Page Level navigations have a screen reader version of their nav structure that allows using the left and right keys to navigate sibling navigation items, and up or down keys to navigate parent or child navigation items. The others can be navigated using tabs. The Primary Navigation handles the first 2 levels of site pages. The Secondary (which is not always available) handles the 3rd and 4th level of structure. The Page level navigation allows you to navigate the current page's headings quickly. The Header Navigation contains the Light/Dark Mode toggle, Search, Notifications and account login. The Breadcrumb Navigation contains the breadcrumb of the current page. If the current page has a breadcrumb, you can get to it by skipping to the content and tabbing in reverse (shift plus tab). The Footer Navigation contains links such as Privacy, Contact, about and terms. Some resources contain an Audio Player that can be activated by holding down the T key for 3 seconds, and then using K to pause and resume. While not every area of Physics Classroom is usable purely from keyboard and screen reader, we are committed to continue work on making this possible. If you have questions or need additional help, please use this link to contact us.

Return to screen reader navigation
Home Concept Builders Fluids Sinking, Floating, and Hanging Directions

Sinking, Floating, and Hanging - Directions

Using the Sinking, Floating, and Hanging Concept Builder is quite simple. There are three different activities, each with a different emphasis. In each activity you will be presented with a question that you will have to answer.

In the first activity - Case Studies 1 - you will be presented with a diagram of two cases or situations. Mass and volume information will be given. You must compare the gravity force and the buoyant force for the two situations and identify which is greater - Case A, Cast B, or Both the Same. You must also identify whether the objects float, sink, or hang in neutral buoyancy. You can tap on the Tap Me! fields to toggle through the answer options for each of the four questions. As long as you have an answer option selected for each of the four questions, a Check Answer button appears. If you are satisfied with your choice of an answer, tap on the Check Answer button. Your answer will be evaluated and your Progress Report will be updated (for Task Tracker users).

In the second activity - Case Studies 2 - you will be presented with a diagram of two cases or situations. Relative mass and volume information will be given. You must compare the gravity force and the buoyant force for the two situations and identify which is greater - Case A, Cast B, or Both the Same. You must also identify which object has the greatest average density. You can tap on the Tap Me! fields to toggle through the answer options for each of the three questions. As long as you have an answer option selected for each of the three questions, a Check Answer button appears. If you are satisfied with your choice of an answer, tap on the Check Answer button. Your answer will be evaluated and your Progress Report will be updated (for Task Tracker users).

In the third activity - Force Analysis - you will be presented with information about an object that is submerged under water and then released. You must calculate the Fgrav and the Fbuoyant values. You must identify the correct free-body diagram. And you must predict whether the object will float, sink, or hang in neutral buoyancy. You can tap on the Tap Me! fields to toggle through the answer options for each of the four questions. As long as you have an answer option selected for each of the four questions, a Check Answer button appears. If you are satisfied with your choice of an answer, tap on the Check Answer button. Your answer will be evaluated and your Progress Report will be updated (for Task Tracker users).

Your goal is to earn "Stars" and to complete one or more activities. Stars are earned when you show success on a particular question. Once you show success on all the questions for a particular activity, you will earn the Trophy for that activity (for Task Tracker users).

Concept Builder Teacher Notes