Abstract
MOST of us are familiar with the lecture-table experiment known as the Cartesian Diver. A variation of this is shown in Fig. 1a. In this apparatus the diver is replaced by a test-tube T floating upside down in the water, being buoyed up by just the right quantity of air, A. The tall jar is nearly filled with water, and then capped by a rubber membrane tied on tightly. When the membrane is pressed in, the pressure of the air just below it is communicated through the water to the air, A, within the test-tube (thus illustrating Pascal's principle). This lessens the volume of the air, and thus its buoyant force (thus illustrating Archimedes' principle), and consequently the test-tube sinks. The tube may therefore be caused to float or sink or remain stationary in the water by suitable pressure on the rubber membrane.
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