How Was Archimedes' Principle Born?
Archimedes (Archimedes), “I found, I found!” and throws himself into the street naked… What did Archimedes throw himself into the street with the excitement of? Let's give the answer in one sentence without going into details: With the excitement of finding a natural law in physics, now known as the "Archimedes Principle"!
Almost everyone knows the story: Hiero, the despotic king of Syracuse, orders the city's well-known jeweler to make a solid gold crown to be placed in the temple of the immortal Gods. The jeweler completes and delivers the gold-heavy crown provided by the king on time. However, some rumors lead the king to suspect that silver was mixed into the structure of the crown. The king wants to know the truth.
Even then it was known that every substance has its own weight, for example, a piece of gold weighs more than a piece of silver of the same size. However, the king had no other crown of the same shape and size than pure gold, so that he could compare in weight. The only known option was to melt the crown and pour it into cubes, weighing it on the scales with cubes of gold of the same size. But this solution meant destroying the crown, which had been worked with long labor and fine craftsmanship. The problem was to determine the amount of gold used without destroying the crown. The commanding king was helpless; but he was not stupid. Finally, he realizes the need to resort to science, and asks Archimedes for the solution of the problem.
The story does not mention how Archimedes struggled on an intellectual level in search of a solution; it only emphasizes how the solution suddenly came to mind when he stepped into the bathtub. Archimedes realizes that the water level rises when he steps into the bathtub, sees that the water overflows when he sits down, and immediately understands that the volume of an object immersed in water, regardless of its structural form, can be determined by the volume of the water it overflows. So what he would do was simple: to dip the crown in a vessel filled with water, to weigh the crown with a piece of gold the size of which corresponds to the volume of the overflowing water! Experiment reveals that the crown is not pure gold; The cunning master finally pays for his crime with his life.
Archimedes has another observation regarding the same problem: When he sits in the tub, he feels a lightening in body weight, as well as the rise in water level. This second observation leads him to establish a new relation, far more important for its outcome: that lightening is equal to the weight of the overflowing water. This means that when an object denser than water is immersed in water, it loses its weight as much as the water it displaces. This relationship, called the "Archimedes Principle", is the cornerstone of the branch of physics known as hydrostatics. However, that's not all: Archimedes laid the foundation for hydrostatics, as well as mechanics, the main branch of physics...
He exuded his problem-solving enthusiasm by jumping out of the bathroom into the street and saying, “I found it, I found it!” Archimedes, who revealed his breakthrough power in science with his call, "Give me a support, I will move the whole world!" expressed in his call.
Cemal Yildirim, – “Pioneers of Science”
Cemal Yıldırım (2003) Pioneers of Science, Tübitak Publications, 20th Edition. Ankara, p.47-52
