List the factors (and their effects) which determine the rate at which sediments are deposited in quiet water?

Question

Please Dumb down to 9th grade level. thank you!!

Size, density, and shape all determine the rate at which sediments are deposited in quiet water. When something is bigger, the settling rate will be lower. When something has a higher density, it will settle slower. Also, shape is a factor because the rounder the shape, the faster it will settle. Therefore, size, density, and shape determine the rate at which sediments are deposited in quiet water.

This is the answer I wrote, based on my lab data. If it is right, I am still confused about why it is right.

Answer 1

well i guess one thing is, if the size of the particle is smaller, it will settle slower... think of a rock versus a grain of sand.

Ok, one more thing: when a solid is falling through water, friction matters a lot. Try moving your hand around under water to prove this, both flat against the water, and cutting the water like a knife.

So the objects' surface area will slow it down. So for different sized perfect spheres, the smaller will fall slower (more surface area per unit of mass). For a sphere (more round) versus say a penny (less round) of equal mass, the sphere will fall faster because of less surface area = less friction.

So if you throw around terms like surface area and friction, your teacher will think you are cool.

Answer 2

Dumb down to 9th grade level? Hah, people have built billion-dollar empires with less education.

Sediments settle to the bottom of any given body of water because of gravity. Gravity is constant.

By "quite water" I'm going to assume you mean water that isn't moving very fast. Fast-moving water only changes how much clay and sand are deposited. Pebbles and above can be moved, but aren't typically carried around.

So we're basically left with the density of the water, and the size of the particles. Clay-sized particles are smallest (and did you know, because they're smooth, they used to put clay-size particules in malts?). Then you have sand, then you have pebbles, rocks, and still-larger rocks.

Water density and depth has some effect. Freshwater clears up a little more quickly than saltwater when a shallow pool is disturbed, and the rate of deposition at the ocean floor is about an inch per thousand years.

Honestly, I barely understand what you want to know, but I hope that helps a little.

Answer 3

This is all about the additional information:

don,t you think, if the size and density will be more, settling rate will be more, it means heavier things and denser things will take less time in settling down i.e. time to settle down will be less.
some logical problem is there!!!!!!