A piece of metal sinks in water but floats in mercury. This shows that:

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A Metal is lighter than water
B Metal is denser than mercury
C Metal is less dense than mercury
D Mercury has low density

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Answer: C. Metal is less dense than mercury

An object floats in a liquid that is denser than itself. The metal sinks in water, so it is denser than water, but it floats in mercury, so it must be less dense than mercury. Mercury is about 13.6 times denser than water.

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A piece of metal sinks in water but floats in mercury. This shows that:

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