Overflow Bucket for Finding the Density of Things.

Hello there!
Today I will show you how you can make an overflow bucket from a cask or a bucket (using a bucket/cask is better than a can because you can submerge bigger things in a bucket than you can with a can) An overflow can tells you what the volume of the object you placed in is and then with a calculator you can find out the density by using mass divided by volume.

Step 1: Equipment!

What you will need for this fun and educational project is:

Scrap plastic.
Solder (use to melt a hole into the cask, and used to plastic weld a piece of scrap plastic onto the keg.
Cask which is plastic and is open to the air like a bucket
Bucket (only if you don't have a cask)
Hot glue gun.
Pen or sharpie.

You need a bit of skill to plastic weld but you can use a hot glue gun instead or if you aren't going to use a keg then just skip this one and the scrap plastic.



Note: If you have the tap/spigot off of a cask you can use that on a bucket or you can do this project with just a straw and a bucket instead of the cask and tap/spigot

Step 2: Making the Overflow Bucket.

I'm using a cask because it will look better in the end and it is basically just like a bucket except I want to use a cask because it has a tap/spigot that is going to be used as the dripper coming on the outside of the bucket.

make the bucket one if you want this to be most easy but using a small thin straw wont work so good.

For cask !!ONLY!! Read this text:
Things needed for this is:
Bucket cask with tap/spigot
Soldering iron.
Hot glue (optional)
Scrap plastic.
Pen or sharpie.


Unscrew the tap/spigot off of the cask and use a solder to plastic weld the hole left behind or if you don't know how to plastic weld then just use hot glue. I plastic welded and then I used hot glue for a tighter seal. Using hot glue on its own might work but it is more likely to leak and if it does leak while your doing this experiment then your results will not be as accurate.
Get the tap/spigot and place it against the side of the cask and trace a circle outline of the tap/spigot with a sharpie or permanent pen near the top of the cask like the photo above and plug in a soldering iron and use it to melt along the traced outline. Now fit the tap/spigot into the hole and screw it in. You are now complete but you still need to know how to use it to find the density of objects, go to step 3.


For bucket !!ONLY!! Read this text:
Things needed for this is:
Bucket.
Soldering iron.
Glue gun.
Pen or sharpie
Scissors

Get yourself a bucket that is a suitable size for your objects to fit into that you want to find the density of. Get a straw and cut one end of the straw at a angle around 45 degrees like the photo above with scissors on one side of the straw. (it does not need to be at a 45 degree angle but if it is than it will be easier to collect the amount of water in the end of this instructable) Draw A circle near the top of your bucket that almost perfectly fits the straw and then using a soldering iron, melt a hole along the traced outline to let the straw fit into the hole and using a hot glue gun, carefully glue the straw into the hole and make sure that the straw is at least aiming a bit down like the photo above. Check for leaks and you are done. Go to step three.

Step 3: So, How Do We Find Out How Dense an Object Is?

Let's try aluminium as a example and please don't comment about how to say aluminium, I know some people call it aluminum. Aluminium's density is 2.70 and let's see how close we can get. First get something aluminium like a scrap heat sink and aluminium is not magnetic so a magnet should not stick to it so just test if it is aluminium or not. Weigh the heat sink and write down on a piece of paper its weight. Now fill your overflow bucket with water just a bit over the top of your hole where the straw is and wait for the straw to stop dripping. Once the straw has stopped dripping you can slowly submerge the heat sink in the water and make sure that there is no air bubbles left stuck onto the heat sink otherwise the result will not be as accurate in the end. As you lower and drop the aluminium heat sink in the water you have to collect the amount of water displaced by the can in milliliters (ml) and you need to type in a calculator the weight of the heat sink divided by the amount of water displaced, a more scientific way of saying this is mass divided by volume. Your answer should be pretty close to 2.7 or if you made it to 2.7 exactly then that's great. I did mine with both overflow buckets that I made and my results for the two was:
Cask = 2.7056
Bucket: 2.589

Obviously the cask was better probably because it had a wider pipe for the water to go into so if you are going to use a bucket I suggest to use a wide straw instead of a small thin straw.
Repeat the steps from step 3 with a different substance and See what you get!!