Question

Choose claim a or b and explain based on your new found understanding
If an object sinks in water and has a mass of 20kg you know that:
A. The volume of the object is more then 20L
B. The volume of the object is less then 20L

Answer 1

Answer:

A. The volume of the object is more then 20L

Explanation:

Density of a substance is calculated by dividing its mass by its volume. According to this question, an object of mass 20kg is involved. A volume of 20Litres is 0.02 millilitres (mL). This means that the density of an object with volume 0.02mL is 20kg/0.02 = 1000kg/mL.

However, an object will only sink in water if it's density is higher than that of water, which is 1000kg/mL. This means that for the object in this question to sink, its density must be more than 1000kg/mL. This applies to scenario A i.e volume of the object must be more then 20L to have a density higher than 1000kg/mL.