The World in Half
“It was simple enough, but we only notice things sometimes when we need to. Archimedes had recently been charged with the task of figuring out whether a new laurel-wreath crown commissioned by Hiero II, the king of Syracuse, was made of pure gold or whether, as Hiero suspected, a devious goldsmith had used an equivalent weight of silver to forge it instead.
This is what Archimedes knew: Silver weighs less than gold. The crown weighed the same as the amount of gold Hiero had given the goldsmith. Therefore, it seemed clear that the crown was indeed made from pure gold. If it had been made from silver, it would have weighed less. Except that Archimedes realized something else: The goldsmith might simply have used much more of the silver to bulk the crown up to the same weight, to make it seem as though it were gold. Weighing the crown was not proof enough. What Archimedes needed to figure out was the crown’s volume.
When he stepped into his bath that day and saw the water rise and overflo...w, he had a moment of clarity.MoreLess
This is what Archimedes knew: Silver weighs less than gold. The crown weighed the same as the amount of gold Hiero had given the goldsmith. Therefore, it seemed clear that the crown was indeed made from pure gold. If it had been made from silver, it would have weighed less. Except that Archimedes realized something else: The goldsmith might simply have used much more of the silver to bulk the crown up to the same weight, to make it seem as though it were gold. Weighing the crown was not proof enough. What Archimedes needed to figure out was the crown’s volume.
When he stepped into his bath that day and saw the water rise and overflo...w, he had a moment of clarity.MoreLess
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