Eureka MomentThe tyrant Hiero of Syracuse once approached Archimedes seeking a solution to an unusual puzzle: Having commissioned an artisan to produce a crown, Hiero had given the man some gold - which he suspected had been mixed with silver (a less expensive metal), enabling the artisan to quietly pocket the difference. Was there, Hiero wondered, any way to put his suspicions to the test?
According to the traditional tale, the answer occurred to Archimedes while he was bathing; he noticed that as he immersed himself in the tub, not only did the water level rise, but his apparent weight seemed to decrease. He is said to have leaped from the bath and run naked through the streets of Syracuse crying, "Eureka! Eureka!" (I have found it! I have found it!)
[Archimedes realized that two objects of equal weight will displace different volumes of water when immersed unless their densities are equal (a point now known as Archimedes' Principle). Because silver is less dense than gold, he soon discovered that Hiero's gold had in fact been adulterated.]
[Trivia: Running naked through the streets might not have seemed odd in Syracuse. The Greeks habitually exercised in the nude. Indeed, the word "gymnasium" derives from the Greek root "gymna," meaning naked.]
Archimedes, (287?-212 BC) Greek mathematician, engineer, and physicist [noted for his discovery of the principle of buoyancy, for his formulation of the equations used to calculate the areas and volumes of various geometric figures, and for his inventions of such ingenious mechanical and hydrostatic devices as the Archimedean screw (a hollow spiral which can be turned to raise water)]
[Sources: Will and Ariel Durant, The History of Civilization]More Archimedes anecdotesRelated Anecdote Keywords:
Bathing Bathtubs Water Jewelry Gold Density Science Physics Buoyancy Metals Metal Ingenuity Inspirations Serendipity
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