Which coin will sink first?
There are 2 identical buckets containing water: bucket A and bucket B. Each bucket is placed in a room. The water temperature in bucket A and bucket B are and , respectively. 2 congruent coins are each dropped into each bucket at the same height in each room.
If the conditions of each room are the same, which coin will reach the bottom first? ( Bonus: Why?)
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1 solution
Well, realistically, the coin in bucket B wouldn't reach the bottom because the temperature of the water is far below freezing, so it'd be dropped onto a bucket of solid ice!! But conceptually, the coin will fall faster in the bucket with warmer water because the increase in temperature will decrease the density of the water, reducing the retarding buoyant force acting on the coin. A smaller buoyant force will allow the coin to fall faster in the water.