Will adding a basketball add weight to a bucket of water?

Answer 1

The only situation where it will not add weight is if both of these is true:

1. The bucket is completely filled to the brim with water before you add the ball.
2. When you add the fully inflated ball, it floats freely in the water after the overflow of water stops.

In the above case, the weight of the displaced water (the water that overflows) is equal to the weight of the freely floating ball. There is no net gain in weight. If the bucket is not initially full to the brim, or if the ball rests on the brim of the bucket without floating freely, then the ball will add weight.