Buoyancy

As you can imagine, there is definitely more to whether an object floats or not than just average density.
For example, why do some objects float higher in the water than others? And why is it easier to lift
objects underwater than in the air? To answer these questions, you’ll need to understand the concept
of buoyancy, a force which is exerted by a fluid on an object, opposing the object’s weight.

It is rumored that the Greek philosopher and scientist Archimedes, around 250 B.C., was asked by King
Hiero II to help with a problem. King Hiero II had ordered a fancy golden crown from a goldsmith.
However, the king was concerned that the goldsmith may have taken his money and mixed some silver
in with the crown instead of crafting the crown out of pure gold. He asked Archimedes if there was a
way to determine if the crown was pure gold.

Archimedes puzzled over the problem for some time, coming up with the solution while he was in the
bath tub one evening. When Archimedes submerged himself in the tub, he noticed that the amount of
water that spilled over the rim of the tub was equal to the volume of water he displaced.

Using this method, he could place the crown in a bowl full of water. The amount of water that spilled
over could be measured and used to tell the volume of the crown. By then dividing the mass of the
crown by the volume, he could obtain the density of the crown, and compare the density to that of gold,
determining if the crown was pure gold. According to legend, he was so excited he popped out of the
tub and ran through the streets naked yelling “Eureka! Eureka!” (Greek for “I found it! I found it!”)

True story or not, this amusing tale illustrates Archimedes’ development of a key principle of buoyancy:
the buoyant force (FB) on an object is equal to the density of the fluid, multiplied by the volume of the
fluid displaced (which is also equal to the volume of the submerged portion of the object), multiplied by
the gravitational field strength. This is known as Archimedes’ Principle.

Archimedes’ Principle explains why boats made of steel can float. Although the steel of the boat itself is
more dense than water, the average density of the entire boat (including the air in the interior of the
boat) is less than that of water. Put another way, the boat floats because the weight of the volume of
water displaced by the boat is greater than the weight of the boat itself.

This principle also accounts for the ability of submarines to control their depth. Submarines use pumps
to move water into and out of chambers in their interior, effectively controlling the average density of
the submarine. If the submarine wants to rise, it pumps water out, reducing its average density. If it
wants to submerge, it pumps water in, increasing its average density.

Question: What is the buoyant force on a 0.3 m3 box which is fully submerged in freshwater
(density=1000 kg/m3)?
Answer:

Question: A steel cable holds a 120-kg shark tank 3 meters below the surface of saltwater. If the volume
of water displaced by the shark tank is 0.1 m3, what is the tension in the cable? Assume the density of
saltwater is 1025 kg/m3.

Answer: First, draw a free body diagram (FBD) of the situation, realizing that you have the force of
gravity (mg) pulling down, the buoyant force upward, and the force of tension in the cable upward.

Because the shark tank is at equilibrium under the water, the net force on it must be zero, therefore the
upward forces must balance the downward forces. You can write this using Newton’s 2nd Law in the y-
direction as:

Finally, you can use this equation to solve for the force of tension in the cable.

Question: A rectangular boat made out of concrete with a mass of 3000 kg floats on a freshwater lake
(ρ=1000 kg/m3). If the bottom area of the boat is 6 m2, how much of the boat is submerged?

Answer: Because the boat is floating on the lake, the magnitude of the buoyant force must be equal to
the magnitude of the weight of the boat. (FB=mg).

Since the boat is rectangular, you can write its volume (V) as its bottom area (A=6 m2) multiplied by the
depth submerged (d).
1. A standard basketball (mass = 624 grams; 24.3 cm in diameter) is held fully under water. Calculate the
buoyant force and weight. When released, does the ball sink to the bottom or float to the surface? If it
floats, what percentage of it is sticking out of the water? If it sinks, what is the normal force, FN with
which it sits on the bottom of the pool?

SOLUTION

The weight of the ball is

To calculate the buoyancy, we need the volume of displaced water, which is the volume of the ball
because it is being held completely submerged.

The buoyant force is equal to the weight of that volume of water.

That's a lot stronger than the 6.1N downward pull of gravity, so the ball will rise to the surface when
released. The density of the ball is

which is 8.3% the density of water. The ball will therefore be floating with 8.3% of its volume below the
level of the surface, and 91.7% sticking out of the water.

2. Six objects (A-F) are in a liquid, as shown. None of them are moving. Arrange them in order of density,
from lowest to highest.
SOLUTION: The more of an object's volume is above the water surface, the less dense it is. Object B
must therefore be the least dense, followed by D, A, and F. Object E is next, because it is neutrally
buoyant and equal in density to the liquid. Object C is negatively buoyant because it is more dense than
the fluid. Full answer to the question: B, D, A, F, E, C.

3. Water ice has a density of 0.91 g/cm³, so it will float in liquid water. Imagine you have a cube of ice,
10 cm on a side. (a) What is the cube's weight? (b) What volume of liquid water must be displaced in
order to support the floating cube? (c) How much of the cube is under the surface of the water?

SOLUTION:

(a) The cube's weight is

(b) The buoyant force must equal the cube's weight. Take the equation for buoyant force, solve it for
Vdf, and plug in the numbers.

(c) The volume of the cube itself is 0.001m³, so the percentage under the surface is...

This detailed calculation confirms our rule-of-thumb that the ratio of an object submerged is the same
as the ratio of its density to that of the fluid in which it is immersed. This also confirms the old adage
that when you see an iceberg floating in the ocean, it really is "just the tip of the iceberg."

4. You have a block of a mystery material, 12 cm long, 11 cm wide and 3.5 cm thick. Its mass is 1155
grams.

(a) What is its density? 2.5 g/cm³ or 2500 kg/m³

(b) Will it float in a tank of water, or sink? It's more dense than the water, so it's gonna sink!
(c) If it floats, what percentage of the object will be sticking out above the water? If it sinks, what will be
the normal force it presses against the bottom of the tank? When the block sits on the bottom of the
tank, there are 3 forces acting on it: gravity (a.k.a. weight, downwards), buoyancy (upwards) and the
normal force (upwards). The block is in equilibrium (FNET=0) so the magnitude of upwards forces must
equal the downwards force of gravity. In other words, Fg= FB+ FN
The weight, Fg= m g = 1.155 kg * 9.8 N/kg = 11.3 N
The buoyant force, FB= density of fluid * volume * g = 4.5 N
Therefore, the normal force FN= 6.8 N

(d) Repeat parts b and c, only instead of water, the tank is full of mercury. The object is less dense than
mercury (13.6 g/cm³), so the object will float in mercury. The ratio of their densities, is 2.5/13.6 = 0.18.
So 18% of the object is below the surface of the mercury, meaning that 82% must be sticking up above
the surface.

Pressure

Everyone’s been under pressure at one time or another, or in certain circumstances have really “felt the
pressure.” From a scientific perspective, however, pressure has a very specific definition, and its
exploration leads to some very important applications.

In physics, pressure is the effect of a force acting upon a surface. Mathematically, it is a scalar quantity
calculated as the force applied per unit area, where the force applied is always perpendicular to the
surface. The SI unit of pressure, a Pascal (Pa), is equivalent to a N/m2.

All states of matter can exert pressure. When you walk across an ice-covered lake, you are applying a
pressure to the ice equal to the force of gravity on your body (your weight) divided by the area over
which you’re contacting the ice. This is why it is important to spread your weight out when traversing
fragile surfaces. Your odds of breaking through the ice go up tremendously if you walk across the ice in
high heels, as the small area contacting the ice leads to a high pressure. This is also the reason snow
shoes have such a large area. They are designed to reduce the pressure applied to the top crust of snow
so that you can walk more easily without sinking into snow drifts.

Fluids, also, can exert pressure. All fluids exert outward pressure in all directions on the sides of any
container holding the fluid. Even the Earth’s atmosphere exerts pressure, which you are experiencing
right now. The pressures inside and outside your body are so well balanced, however, that you rarely
notice the 101,325 Pascals due to the atmosphere (approximately 10N/cm2). If you ride in an airplane
and change altitude (and therefore pressure) quickly, you may have experienced a “popping” sensation
in your ears — this is due to the pressure inside your ear balancing the pressure outside your ear in a
transfer of air through small tubes that connect your inner ear to your throat.

Question: Air pressure is approximately 100,000 Pascals. What force is exerted on this book when it is
sitting flat on a desk? The area of the book’s cover is 0.035 m2.
Answer:

Question: A fisherman with a mass of 75kg falls asleep on his four-legged chair of mass 5 kg. If each leg
of the chair has a surface area of 2.5×10-4 m2 in contact with the ground, what is the average pressure
exerted by the fisherman and chair on the ground?

Answer: The force applied is the force of gravity, therefore we can write:

Question: A scale which reads 0 in the vacuum of space is placed on the surface of planet Physica. On
the planet’s surface, the scale indicates a force of 10,000 Newtons. Calculate the surface area of the
scale, given that atmospheric pressure on the surface of Physica is 80,000 Pascals.

Answer:

Question: A barber raises his customer’s chair by applying a force of 150N to a hydraulic piston of area
0.01 m2. If the chair is attached to a piston of area 0.1 m 2, how massive a customer can the chair raise?
Assume the chair itself has a mass of 5 kg.

Question: Rank the following from highest pressure to lowest pressure upon the ground:

The atmosphere at sea level

A 7000-kg elephant with total area 0.5 m2 in contact with the ground

A 65-kg lady in high heels with total area 0.005 m2 in contacting with the ground

A 1600-kg car with a total tire contact area of 0.2 m2

Answer: From highest pressure to lowest pressure:

The elephant (137,000 Pa)

The lady in high heels (127,000 Pa)

The atmosphere (100,000 Pa)

The car (78,400 Pa)

The pressure that a fluid exerts on an object submerged in that fluid can be calculated almost as simply.
If the object is submersed to a depth (h), the pressure is found by multiplying the density of the fluid by
the depth submerged, all multiplied by the acceleration due to gravity.

This is known as the gauge pressure, because this is the reading you would observe on a pressure gauge.
If there is also atmosphere above the fluid, such as the situation here on earth, you can determine the
absolute pressure, or total pressure, by adding in the atmospheric pressure (P0), which is equal to
approximately 100,000 Pascals.

Question: Samantha spots buried treasure while scuba diving on her Caribbean vacation. If she must
descend to a depth of 40 meters to examine the pressure, what gauge pressure will she read on her
scuba equipment? The density of sea water is 1025 kg/m3.

Answer:

Question: What is the absolute pressure exerted on the diver in the previous problem by the water and
atmosphere?

Answer:

Question: A diver’s pressure gauge reads 250,000 Pascals in fresh water (ρ=1000 kg/m3). How deep is
the diver?
Answer:

Pascal's Principle

When a force is applied to a contained, incompressible fluid, the pressure increases equally in all
directions throughout the fluid. This fundamental characteristic of fluids provides the foundation for
hydraulic systems found in barbershop chairs, construction equipment, and the brakes in your car.

Because the force applied to the contained fluid is distributed throughout the system, you can multiply
the applied force through this application of Pascal’s Principle in the following manner. Assume you
have a closed container filled with an incompressible fluid with two pistons of differing areas, A1 and A2.
If you apply a force, F1, to the piston of area A1, you create a pressure in the fluid which you can call P1.

Similarly, the pressure at the second piston, P2, must be equal to F2 divided by the area of the second
piston, A2.

Since the pressure is transmitted equally throughout the fluid in all directions according to Pascal’s
Principle, P1 must equal P2.

Rearranging to solve for F2, you find that F2 is increased by the ratio of the areas A2 over A1.

Question: A barber raises his customer’s chair by applying a force of 150N to a hydraulic piston of area
0.01 m2. If the chair is attached to a piston of area 0.1 m 2, how massive a customer can the chair raise?
Assume the chair itself has a mass of 5 kg.

Answer: To solve this problem, first determine the force applied to the larger piston.
If the maximum force on the chair is 1500N, you can now determine the maximum mass which can be
lifted by recognizing that the force that must be overcome to lift the customer is the force of gravity,
therefore the applied force on the customer must equal the force of gravity on the customer.

If the chair has a mass of 5 kilograms, the maximum mass of a customer in the chair must be 148 kg.

Question: A hydraulic system is used to lift a 2000-kg vehicle in an auto garage. If the vehicle sits on a
piston of area 0.5 square meter, and a force is applied to a piston of area 0.03 square meters, what is the
minimum force that must be applied to lift the vehicle?

Answer: