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AP Physics 1
8.3 Fluids and Newton’s Laws
8.2 Pressure
8.1 Internal Structure and Density
AdvancedMCQProportional AnalysisConceptual17.4k
Sensor casing floating at the interface between two seawater layers.
Sensor casing floating at the interface between two seawater layers.
An oceanographic research station deploys a rigid, sealed cylindrical sensor casing of total volume \(V\) and total mass \(M\). The casing floats in translational equilibrium at the boundary between two unmixed seawater layers, with volume \(V_1\) submerged in an upper layer of density \(\rho_1\) and volume \(V_2\) submerged in a lower layer of density \(\rho_2\), where \(\rho_1 < \rho_2\). Warm water rising from a thermal vent plume reduces the density of the upper layer to a new constant value \(\rho_1' < \rho_1\), while the lower layer's density \(\rho_2\) remains unchanged. The casing remains partially submerged in both layers. Which of the following claims correctly describes the change in the submerged volume \(V_2\) in the lower layer, and provides a correct physical justification?

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