blog




  • Essay / A contribution of Archimedes to physics and mathematics

    When the name Archimedes is mentioned, two completely different things come to mind. We might think of Archimedes of Syracuse who is considered one of the greatest physicists and mathematicians of the ancient world. On the other hand, someone might think of that little owl who is Merlin's sidekick in Disney's animated version of The Sword in the Stone. This report will focus on the life of the human Archimedes and not on the cartoon. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Archimedes lived from 287 to 212 BC and details regarding his personal life are unclear due to the fact that the only biography on Archimedes (written by his friend Heracleides) has been lost for centuries. Therefore, some accounts of Archimedes' life and achievements are not verifiable, while some incidents regarding his achievements are the stuff of legend (Abbot 13). Archimedes is believed to have been born in Syracuse, Sicily, then a Greek colony. His father Phidias was an astronomer and his family was of noble repute, perhaps even related to King Hiero II (Abbot 13). After his time in Syracuse, Archimedes moved to Alexandria to study under Conon to learn more about mathematics and physics. . Unlike most other mathematicians and physicists, Archimedes did not stay in Alexandria for the rest of his life; he returned home after his break in Alexandria. Returning to Sicily, Archimedes devoted the rest of his life to the serious study of physics, mathematics, and physics (Abbot 13). The best known result of Archimedes' work at Syracuse is Archimedes' Principle which states that a body immersed in water will displace a volume of fluid that weighs as much as the body would in air (Abbot 14 ) or a body immersed in a fluid is subjected to a vertical force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced, and a body floating in the fluid displaces its own weight of fluid (Rue 42). Submerged means completely or partially submerged. For example, if we completely submerge a 3N brick in a bucket of water, the brick will weigh about 1N in the water but will displace 2N of water for a total of 3N. In other words, if you were to walk through a pool of water filled to the top, then your normal weight would equal your weight underwater plus the weight of the water displaced from the pool. It doesn't matter how far you go or what shape you give your body. Additionally, a completely submerged object will always displace a volume of liquid equal to its own volume (Hewitt 278). Archimedes is said to have discovered this principle by overflowing water in a bathtub. He was so excited about his discovery that he ran naked around town shouting "Eureka!" which means "I got it!" . Archimedes put his new principle to the test when the problem of whether or not King Hiero's new crown of pure gold would weather arose. Solving the mystery without damaging the crown in any way was a mystery. But Archimedes realized that if the crown had been mixed with silver, which is less dense than gold, the crown would have a greater volume and therefore displace more water than if it were gold. pure gold. According to legends, the crown turned out to be a mixture of gold and silver and the goldsmith who constructed the crown was immediately executed (Abbott 14). Archimedes also made several other achievements in the fields of statics and hydrostatics. In statics, Archimedes is credited with developing the inflexible proofs behind the law of the lever. Archimedes was not the first to use the lever, but he was the first to demonstrate mathematically that the ratio of effort, 15)