When you jump into a pool where is your weight “carried”? Does it increase the pressure on the bottom of the pool?
In: Physics
Yes! The pressure throughout all points in the pool increases because the height of the water above it increases as you displace the water that was once where your body is. The water is carrying you because there is enough push upward to hold you there, since you are not dense enough to provide enough downward push to overcome it. The pool is also holding you, as it has to hold all the water, and you at the same time.
Pressure causes force in all direction, and the force increases with depth, as I’m sure you know. The water below you is pushing up, because the water around it is pushing in, forcing the water to go up as there is no other place to go. How much water you displace will determine how strongly the water around you pushes you up, and your weight determines how much force you are pushing down with. When something floats, it doesn’t have to float on the surface, even dense objects can rest within the water, without laying on the bottom, if it is able to find a depth where its weight and the upward, or bouyant, force of the water is equal. Knowing this, the water below you is holding you, and technically the entire body of water is what is truly holding you. More weight on top means more pressure on the bottom!
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