Budding young scientists always love to explore and experiment with things. One of their favorite activities is to check which objects float and which ones sink. How about checking whether an orange will float or sink? According to what we have learned, objects which are heavy will sink in water. Objects which are light-weight will float. So make your guess. Now let us grab some oranges and proceed to do the sink or float experiment.
Materials Required
Oranges – 2
Glass container – 2 (They should big enough to put oranges)
Water – Enough to fill the glasses
Steps to follow
- Fill water in both the glasses.
- Keep both glasses side by side.
- Put the unpeeled orange in one glass, and see what happens.
- Does it float? Yes, it does.
- Peel the second orange.
- Put the peeled orange into the second glass, and see what happens.
- Does the peeled orange sink or float?
- The peeled orange sinks to the bottom of the glass. Did your prediction go wrong?
What We Learn
Did you think that the unpeeled orange will sink, and the peeled one will float? What happened is exactly the opposite. What makes an orange float in water? It is the peel that helped the orange to float. Orange peel or rind is very porous, and has several tiny air pockets. These air pockets make the orange less dense than water. So it floated.
When the peel is removed, there are no air pockets. Even though removal of peel makes the orange lighter, it becomes denser too. So it sank in water. We can explain it in a simple manner. A man will drown if he jumps into water and doesn’t know swimming. But what if he has a life jacket? Air trapped inside the jacket helps him to stay afloat. So we can say that the orange had a life jacket in the form of its rind.
Had fun doing this experiment? If you are looking for more of such easy experiments, visit our Experiments section.
Here’s Something You Might Like
As a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, Science4Kids may earn from qualifying purchases.
