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String Displacement Error
A student measured the volume of a metal ring by lowering it into water in a measuring cylinder.
The student tied a piece of thick string to the metal ring and lowered the ring into the water.
Suggest one reason why the student should have used thin string instead of thick string.
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Marking points
- 1 Explains that thin string displaces less water and therefore changes the volume reading less.
Full-mark answer
Thin string displaces less water than thick string, so it has less effect on the measured volume.
Why this answer loses marks
Thin string absorbs less water.
Water absorption is not the credited issue; thin string displaces less water and therefore changes the volume reading less.