Editing 2681: Archimedes Principle
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | {{ | + | {{incomplete|Created for a heist - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} |
− | + | {{w|Archimedes' Principle}} is a well-known principle of fluid mechanics that states "Any object, totally or partially immersed in a fluid or liquid, is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object." {{w|Archimedes}} supposedly discovered it when he was getting into a bathtub and noticed how much water spilled out of the tub when he got into it. A corollary to this law is that the volume of an object can be determined by immersing it in liquid and determining how much the liquid is displaced. By weighing the object and dividing by the volume, the net density can be calculated. | |
− | + | Archimedes' insight led to the solution of a problem posed by king Hiero of Syracuse on how to assess the purity of an irregular golden votive crown; Hiero had given his goldsmith the pure gold to be used, and correctly suspected he had been cheated by the goldsmith removing gold and adding the same weight of much cheaper silver. Because Archimedes could determine the crown's density, and because gold is nearly twice as dense as silver, the purity of the crown could be determined. | |
− | According to the title text, Archimedes's eureka moment wasn't when he discovered | + | The legend says that upon discovering that he could use this insight to solve the problem, he went running naked down the street shouting "{{w|Eureka (word)|Eureka}}!" (which is Greek for "I have found it!"). Note that Archimedes' Principle is about buoyancy, not volume measurement, so his Principle is not strictly required for the crown measurement story; however [https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/history/it-true-archimedes-formulated-his-famous-principle-based-observation-he-made-he-immersed-himself Archimedes did formulate] the Archimedes' Principle. |
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+ | In the comic, Archimedes' insight doesn't just involve science, but plan for self-enrichment. Evidently, he plans to conceal a less valuable gold-plated or gold-alloy crown in the tub of liquid, and swap it for the real crown when measuring the volume. This implies that the king's crown was, in fact, pure gold, but Archimedes reported it to be alloyed with silver, in order to steal the gold crown for himself. This is claimed to be "the first heist". While robberies have existed since property has existed{{Citation needed}}, a "heist" implies a complex plan, often based on deception and carefully planned operations, as is typical of {{w|heist films}}. | ||
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+ | According to the title text, Archimedes's eureka moment wasn't when he discovered the buoyancy principle, but when he realized that he could use this discovery as a pretext for running naked through town, which is something he'd always wanted to do. | ||
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== |