An Honest Science Question

[Skwim]

A cup of water is 7.6 percent heavier than a cup of cooking oil, which is why cooking oil floats on water, as in beaker illustration 1. But what happens to that cup of water on the bottom of the beaker when the weight of oil above it is increased by 4?

Which of the beakers best represents the result?

​

Why?

.

 

[Ebionite]

2 because that represents the arrangement with the lowest gravitational potential energy.

 

[Bob the Unbeliever]

A cup of water is 7.6 percent heavier than a cup of cooking oil, which is why cooking oil floats on water, as in beaker illustration 1. But what happens to that cup of water on the bottom of the beaker when the weight of oil above it is increased by 4?

Which of the beakers best represents the result?

View attachment 36890
​

Why?

.

2. Because liquids are not solids.

 

[danieldemol]

A cup of water is 7.6 percent heavier than a cup of cooking oil, which is why cooking oil floats on water, as in beaker illustration 1. But what happens to that cup of water on the bottom of the beaker when the weight of oil above it is increased by 4?

Which of the beakers best represents the result?

View attachment 36890
​

Why?

.

2 because their respective densities do not change by adding more oil, so the most dense material will still gravitate towards the bottom

 

[Altfish]

N0. 2, nothing to add to what has already been said.

 

[PureX]

... Increased by 4 what?

 

[Tumah]

... Increased by 4 what?

Four weights.

 

[Twilight Hue]

2 because the atoms don't combine to make new molecules.

 

[PureX]

Four weights.

Then 2, I think.

 

[exchemist]

As others have pointed out, explicitly or implicitly, the key to thinking about this is to think not in terms of "weight" but in terms of density. Oil floats on water not because water is "heavier" but because it is denser, i.e. the mass (and thus weight) per unit volume of water is greater than that of oil. As @Theo102 says, the gravitational potential will be a minimum when all the denser material is at the lowest point it can reach.

So it is diagram 2 - which resembles the situation familiar to me from my oil industry days, in which there is an oil tank with some water in it from condensation in it.

 

[Subduction Zone]

Number four since somebody has to be wrong here.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

A cup of water is 7.6 percent heavier than a cup of cooking oil, which is why cooking oil floats on water, as in beaker illustration 1. But what happens to that cup of water on the bottom of the beaker when the weight of oil above it is increased by 4?

Which of the beakers best represents the result?

View attachment 36890
​

Why?

.

Your language is a bit ambiguous. When you say "the weight of oil above it is increased by 4," do you mean:

- you just added another 3 units of oil to the beaker, or
- the oil is magically changed so that its specific weight (i.e. density) is 4 times what it was before?

 

[Revoltingest]

Number four since somebody has to be wrong here.

You're correct because the additional oil was rapidly poured in,
which caused turbulence & mixing. Because there were no
emulsifiers, the oil & water remained separated as shown.
Eventually though, it will look like #2.

Note: Some additional assumptions were made.

 

[Subduction Zone]

You're correct because the additional oil was rapidly poured in,
which caused turbulence & mixing. Because there were no
emulsifiers, the oil & water remained separated as shown.
Eventually though, it will look like #2.

Note: Some additional assumptions were made.

I simply prefer being wrong for once. Taking one for the team!

 

[Revoltingest]

I simply prefer being wrong for once. Taking one for the team!

You are wrong about your being wrong.

 

[BSM1]

I simply prefer being wrong for once. Taking one for the team!

You are wrong about your being wrong.

So kudos to you...

 

[ChristineM]

2

 

[Skwim]

... Increased by 4 what?

There's four times as much oil.

.

 

[Skwim]

Your language is a bit ambiguous. When you say "the weight of oil above it is increased by 4," do you mean:

- you just added another 3 units of oil to the beaker, or
- the oil is magically changed so that its specific weight (i.e. density) is 4 times what it was before?

Clue: what do the illustrations show?

.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Clue: what do the illustrations show?

.

The diagrams don't speak to density.

(Or time since the two liquids were mixed, which is relevant between #2 and #4)