1. The canoe is heavy because its fiberglass skin is quite dense. A block of fiberglass normally sinks in water. In a sentence or two, explain how the canoe manages to float in water.

2. The stationary canoe is quite stable while you are seated properly, but becomes unstable when both of you stand up. We can understand this effect by noticing that whenever the canoe tips to the right or left, it effectly pivots about a horizontal axis that runs from the front of the canoe to the back. This axis is located roughly a foot above the bottom of the canoe. As long as the occupants are low, the canoe's total center of gravity is located below this axis and the canoe exhibits static stability. But when you both stand up and raise the center of gravity above this axis, over you go. Use the relationship between potential energy and acceleration to explain this transition from stable to unstable behavior when you stand up.

3. Once the canoe is heading forward quickly enough, its dynamic behavior (they way it moves) begins to contribute to its overall stability. Your friend just can't seem to stay seated and keeps standing up. On one particular occasion, the top of the boat begins to tip sharply to the left. Fortunately, this tipping caused the forward-moving boat to steer in such a way that it spontaneously recovered from the tip. (A) Which way did the boat steer, toward the left or right, and (B) why did that direction of steering cause the boat to recover its upright orientation?

4. As you paddle forward, you find that the way you hold the paddle affects the feel of paddling. When paddling on the right side of the canoe, you hold the small end of the paddle stationary in your left hand and draw the large, blade end of the paddle through the water using your right hand. If your right hand is almost touching the blade, you find that you can paddle using relatively little force. However, if your right hand is more toward the middle of the paddle's handle and rather far from the blade itself, you must exert a much larger force on the paddle to pull it through the water. This would appear to violate conservation of energy, since in either case, you are doing the same task: pulling the paddle blade through the water. What other issue is present here that resolves this problem and explains why energy conservation still holds?

5. As the day wears on, the air gets hotter and hotter. Does the canoe float at the same height in the water, or does it rise upward slightly or sink downward slightly? Why? (Note: assume that the air's pressure and constituents don't change. Also assume that the canoe's size remains exactly constant.)

6. After crossing the lake, you and your friend put the canoe in a truck and drive it to a lake up at the top of a mountain. You put the canoe in the water there and set out across this second lake. Does the canoe float at the same height in the water, or does it rise upward slightly or sink downward slightly? Why? (Note: assume that the air's temperature and constituents are the same as they were above the first lake. Also assume that the canoe's size remains exactly constant.)

7. While the canoe is floating on the lake, the bottom skin of the canoe has water beneath it and air above it. The water and air are separated by only a few millimeters of fiberglass. Compare the pressure of the water just beneath this bottom skin of the canoe to the pressure of air just above that skin. Are they equal or is one pressure higher than the other?

8. After some splashing, your canoe has a little water inside it. You are still gliding across the lake, so you can't tip the canoe over to get rid of the water. Your friend suggests drilling a small hole in the very bottom of the canoe to let this water drain out into the lake beneath the canoe. Would water actually drain out of the canoe if you were to drill a hole in the very bottom? Why or why not?