I have no idea how it is possible that a boat floats. Some of them are made with concrete, or metal, and other heavy material that on their own would sink, regardless of shape. But somehow, when it’s used to build a boat, it floats just as fine even if it carries extremely heavy load.
So what is the science behind boat floating, but explained to me like I’m five? 🙂
In: Engineering
As long as water doesn’t get into them, the average density of a boat’s underwater part is much lower than the density of the same size blob of “solid” water, because boats are mostly air inside. So they float. (Note that the parts of the boat above the waterline push down on the part that floats without themselves contributing to floating, so there is an equilibrium depending on how loaded down the boat is)
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