THE ARCHIMEDES PRINCIPLE - Archimedes was a scientist. The legend has it that he was given a task by the king to adjudge whether his crown was made up of pure gold or not. Archimedes was having a bath in his bathtub and also pondering over the task at hand. Nobody knows what happened but somehow the movement of water in his bathtub led him to formulate the Archimedes principle. When the weight of the body is less than the weight of the fluid it displaces, then that object will float and not sink.

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The Archimedes Principle

How do Ships Float?

engineeringinsider

Now, this is the question which everyone must have pondered over as a kid. Why something so heavy does not sink but floats, and not only floats but also carries so much cargo at times.

Well, today we will understand why ships float! Now, everything in this world is ruled by classical physics and so does this phenomenon.

Before we jump on to the science and math of why ships float we have to pay some due respect to the guy because of which we have the answer to this curious question.

That guy is Archimedes, Archimedes was a scientist and much more. He was a genius and some people even regarded him as being mentally retarded.

The legend has it that he was given a task by the king to adjudge whether his crown was made up of pure gold or not.

Now Archimedes was having a bath in his bathtub and also pondering over the task at hand.

Nobody knows what happened but somehow the movement of water in his bathtub led him to formulate the Archimedes principle.

Archimedes Principle

Archimedes principle states that “The upward buoyant force that is exerted on a body immersed in a fluid, whether fully or partially submerged, is equal to the weight of the fluid that the body displaces”

So how does it fit into this equation or our question that “why ships float?”

It’s quite evident that when the weight of the body is less than the weight of the fluid it displaces, then that object will float and not sink. The game is off the volume vis weight.

For example: let us take an object which has a volume of say 10 cubic meters and weighs 20 metric tonnes.

Put it straight in the water and see what will happen. Naturally, it will sink as the amount of water displaced will be far more than the volume of the object.

Now, let’s increase the volume of the object to say 20 cubic meters keeping the weight same, again let’s throw it in water.

What will happen now is that the object will neither sink nor float. Reason is that the amount of water displaced here is equal to the volume of the object.

Now let’s assume we increase the volume of the object to say 30 cubic meters keeping the weight same, now we have an object that is floating in the water due to the obvious reasons.

Same happens in case of a ship, the design of the ship is made in such a way that the amount of water it displaces is always more than its weight.

Hence the ships float on water. Modern ships have buoyancy control mechanism which makes adjustments according to the laden weight of the ship.

So, this was the answer to your curious question folks.

https://engineeringinsider.org/ships-floating-principle/