the-BA : Eureka

Fraud detection began well over 2000 years ago. King Hiero had a problem. He suspected that his new crown was made of gold/silver alloy, not pure gold, and the goldsmith was a cheat. How could he prove it? Archimedes solved the problem by noticing that the public bath overflowed when he got in. He was so excited, he ran home shouting “Eureka!” (Greek for “I’ve found it!”); so excited that he forgot to get dressed first!

Have you ever wondered how an overflowing bath can help to prove that gold is impure?

You might like to …

• read more about Archimedes, and how he solved the king’s problem
• find out what a ‘eureka can’ is, and how to use it
• Use Archimedes’ method to determine the density of ‘copper’ or ‘bronze’ coins (1p & 2p), to prove that they are neither pure copper, nor bronze; compare the density of coins from before and after 1992; suggest an explanation (hint: a magnet will help)
• improve your procedure to get more precise results, but still using Archimedes’ method; by measuring the density of ‘silver’ coins (5p, 10p, 20p and 50p) as precisely as you can, decide which of these four coins is the odd-one-out (it is a different metal from the other three)
• find out what is meant by 9-carat or 18-carat gold; measure the density of an item of gold jewellery, for example a neck-chain; use the density to decide how many carat gold it is; check the hallmark, if any (note: this is a useful method of checking jewellery, since it is non-destructive; you don’t need to remove any for testing).

Further links:
www.sandia.gov/tp/SAFE_RAM/AP.HTM

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~lpt/archimedes.htm

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