how do ships float?
In: Physics
Water wants to seek its own level and push inward. so when we push down on it, it pushes back up. So a boat pushing down on water is pushed up by water. Eventually the force of the water pushing up equals the force of the boat pushing down and it floats.
We call this upward force “buoyancy” and it’s simply measured by the weight of the thing in the water vs the weight of the water being pushed out of the way. If the weight of the water being pushed out of the way is greater than than the weight of the thing in the water than the thing floats. If the thing is heavier than the water it pushes out of the way, it sinks.
A 1ft x1ft x1ft cube of water weighs approximately 64lbs. A hollow cube of steel with equal dimensions as the cube of water (with each wall 1/4 inch thick) weighs about 61lbs. The hollow steel cube weighs less than the water it pushes out of the weigh so it will float.
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