eli5: Why do cars seem to float in shallow water, but sink in deep water?
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They can be a little buoyant depending on the shape of the floor pan, but what you’re probably seeing is cars getting swept away in floods.
This is because water is heavy, one cubic meter weighs a metric ton – which leads to people frequently underestimating the overwhelming force of rushing water during a flash flood.
They drive into seemingly innocuous knee-deep rushing water, and it blasts the car with hundreds of tons of force that drag it away or flip it over.
Some cars will briefly float in deeper water while the passenger compartment fills up, but they’re mostly metal and soon sink like a brick.
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