FILE No.153Unsolved
A museum's "pure gold crown" is suspected of having been replaced with a fake made of gold and silver mixed. You want to check without breaking the crown.
You have a lump of pure gold of the same weight as the crown. Gold has a smaller volume for the same weight than silver (it is denser).
Which is the most reliable way to check?
If you get stuck, open the hints one at a time, in order.
For the same weight, which has more volume, gold or silver?
Can volume be measured by how much the water level rises?
Can a magnet tell gold from silver?
Which is the most reliable way to check?
Choose the answer closest to the truth.
Submerge the crown and the gold lump separately in a container of water and compare how much the water level rises
The answer is "Submerge the crown and the gold lump separately in a container of water and compare how much the water level rises."
For the same weight, pure gold has the smallest volume. A crown mixed with silver has a larger volume at the same weight, and the water level rises more.
Neither gold nor silver sticks to a magnet. Sound changes with shape, and color is hard to judge because of how the metals are mixed. Comparing volume is the reliable method.
Because you assume that if it looks gold, it is gold.
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