Journal article
Archimedes' floating bodies on a spherical Earth
American journal of physics, v 84(1), pp 61-70
01 Jan 2016
Abstract
Archimedes was the first to systematically find the centers of gravity of various solid bodies and to apply this concept in determining stable configurations of floating bodies. In this paper, we discuss an error in a proof developed by Archimedes that involves determining whether a uniform, spherical cap will float stably with its base horizontal in a liquid on a spherical Earth. We present a simpler, corrected proof and discuss aspects of his proof regarding a spherical cap that is not uniform. (C) 2016 American Association of Physics Teachers.
Metrics
Details
- Title
- Archimedes' floating bodies on a spherical Earth
- Creators
- Chris Rorres - Drexel University
- Publication Details
- American journal of physics, v 84(1), pp 61-70
- Publisher
- Amer Assoc Physics Teachers
- Number of pages
- 10
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- [Retired Faculty]
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000367297900011
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-84952333248
- Other Identifier
- 991019168234304721
InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Web of Science research areas
- Education, Scientific Disciplines
- Physics, Multidisciplinary