What length of steel is above the surface?

AI Thread Summary
The discussion focuses on calculating the length of a steel cylinder that remains above the surface when floating in mercury. The cylinder has a diameter of 10 cm and a height of 80 cm, with specific densities for steel and mercury provided. The initial calculations involved determining the mass of the steel cylinder and using buoyant force principles to find the submerged height. The user initially arrived at an incorrect height above the mercury but later realized the need to convert and adjust their calculations. Ultimately, the correct approach involved subtracting the submerged height from the total height of the cylinder.
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[SOLVED] What length of steel is above the surface?

Homework Statement



A 10-cm-diameter, 80.0 -tall steel cylinder (density of steel 7900) floats in mercury. The axis of the cylinder is perpendicular to the surface.

What length of steel is above the surface?

Homework Equations



Free body Diagram
Density = Mass / Volume
Buoyant Force = mass*gravity (Free Body Diagram)
Volume of a cylinder = Pi * r^2 * h


The Attempt at a Solution



Given : Radius = .05m | Height = .4m | Density of Steel = 7900 kg/m^3 | Density of Mercury 13570 kg/m^3 |

Unknowns : Mass of steel pipe ? | height above the mercury? |

First thing i did was draw a Free Body Diagram where i calculated that the Buoyant Force was equal to the mass * gravity of the pipe/rod:

Fb = mg : rho*pi*r^2*h = m (both gravity's cancel ) I can transform this formula into :

Height = Mass / rho * Pi * R^2

How do we determine mass? We know that Density = Mass/ Volume. So we get :

Mass = Volume * Density = (Pi *r^2*h)*Density = pi*.05^2*.4*7900 = 24.8 kg

Now, we plug that into the above equation (Height = Mass / rho * Pi * R^2 ) :

Height = 24.8kg/13570 * pi*.05^2 = .23 centimeters. This should be the right answer but according to mastering Physics, this is incorrect. It seem logical, where did i go wrong?

-SHANE
 
Last edited:
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nvm, I figured this out. I needed to just convert that answer back to centimeters and then subtract that *23 centimeters from the original 80.


Thanks.
 
nvm, I figured this out. I needed to just convert that answer back to centimeters and then subtract that *23 centimeters from the original 80.Thanks.
 
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