Photo: Leonardo Luz

Should lemon slices sink in water?

Lemons and limes both have densities that are very close to water, so you would expect that they would both float. However, limes are slightly denser than lemons, which is why they sink and lemons float.”

bestfoodfacts.org - Why Do Lemons Float and Limes Sink? | BestFoodFacts.org

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Why Do Lemons Float and Limes Sink?

If you’re someone who typically infuses their water with fruit, you might have noticed that most of the fruit in your glass floats to the top, making a colorful, and delightful, combination. One of our staffers noticed that the lemon slices in her infused water floated to the top, while the lime slices sank. Shouldn’t both of the fruits float to the top of the glass? Looking for the quickest explanation as to why this was happening, we conducted our own experiment and asked resident RD Sarah Downs to weigh in on this phenomenon. To test out our experiment, we ran to the local grocery store and picked up limes and lemons. We tested our fruit three different ways – whole, peeled and sliced. Each time, we noticed that the lemons floated to the top of the bowl while the limes stayed relatively close to the middle/bottom of the bowl. When we peeled and sliced the fruit, the separation just continued to grow. What we found strangest, however, was that when we peeled the fruit the limes only continued to sink deeper in the bowl while the lemons began to sink a little bit further into the bowl, but remained close to the top. The phenomenon continued when the fruit separated further after they were sliced. We assumed this happened because the fruit was sliced, therefore making the individual pieces lighter. Based on our observations, we wanted to know the science behind why this was happening. Why, based on our observations, were the larger fruits floating to the top while the smaller fruits were sinking to the bottom? Does it have something to do with the acidity of the fruit? The weight of the peel? Or just the overall mass? We asked Sarah Downs, RD, for an explanation.

So, why do lemons float and limes sink?

Sarah Downs, RD: “The reason limes sink and lemons float is due to density, or the mass per unit of volume. An object will float if it is less dense than the liquid it is placed in and will sink if it is denser than the liquid it is placed in. Lemons and limes both have densities that are very close to water, so you would expect that they would both float. However, limes are slightly denser than lemons, which is why they sink and lemons float.”

Intrigued? Check it out for yourself in the video below:

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Why lemon is kept in a glass of water?

Since the lemon is kept in the glass and light rays move from water to air that is from denser medium to a rarer medium, they move away from the normal and due to this refraction phenomenon, the lemon appears larger to the observer.

vedantu.com - Lemon kept in a glass of water looks bigger, why? - Vedantu

Hint: We are able to see because of the light. If there is no light such as in a dark room, we cannot see anything. Light after striking the objects gets reflected and they come into our eye, the lens converges them and a picture is formed onto the retina. Light travels in a straight line but whenever there is a change of medium then the path of the light rays changes their directions as evident from the concept of refraction.

Complete answer:

Refraction of light is a phenomenon in which light when it moves from one medium to another then its direction of propagation changes, its wavelength and speed may also change but the frequency remains the same. The point of incidence at the plane which separates the two media, a perpendicular line is drawn called normal. The angle of incidence and the angle of refraction all are made by the light rays with the normal. When light moves from rarer medium to denser medium it moves towards the normal and when it moves from denser medium to a rarer medium it moves away from the normal. Since the lemon is kept in the glass and light rays move from water to air that is from denser medium to a rarer medium, they move away from the normal and due to this refraction phenomenon, the lemon appears larger to the observer.

Note:

If a light ray is incident obliquely perpendicular to the surface separating the two media, the light ray passes undeflected without any change in its direction. Thus, a point size object when seen placed inside the glass containing water, appears to be of the same size as the light rays passing undeflected.

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