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Making lead float
This task is about what makes something float.
Question
A lump of lead placed in water sinks.
But the same lump of lead rolled out to make a piece of lead foil
floats
when made into a boat shape.
This is because ...
the lead foil is thinner and therefore lighter.
air is trapped in the rolled-out lead which makes it buoyant.
the boat shape displaces a greater mass of water than the lump of lead.
the water's surface tension can support the mass of the thin lead.