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Archimedes' Principle
A body submerged in a liquid
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Archimedes' principle states that:

"If a solid body floats or is submerged in a liquid - the liquid exerts an upward thrust force - a buoyant force -
on the body equal to the gravitational force on the liquid displaced by the body."

The buoyant force can be expressed as

F = W
B

=Vγ

=Vρg (1)

where

F = buoyant force acting on the submerged or floating body (N, lb )

B f

W = weight of the displaced liquid (N, lb )

f

3 3
V = volume of the body below the surface of the liquid (m , ft )

3 3
γ = specific weight of the fluid (weight per unit volume) (N/m , lb /ft )
f

3 3
ρ = density of the fluid (kg/m , slugs/ft )

2 2
g = acceleration of gravity (9.81 m/s , 32.174 ft/s )

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Example - Density of a Body that floats in Water

3
A body that floats is 96% submerged in water with density 1000 kg/m .

For a floating body the buoyant force equal the weight of the displaced water.

F = W
B

or

V ρ g=V ρ g
b b w w

where

3
V = volume body (m )
b

3
ρ = density body (kg/m )
b

3
V = volume water (m )
w

3
ρ = density water (kg/m )
w

The equation can be transformed to

ρ =V ρ /V
b w w b

Since 95% of the body is submerged

0.95 V = V
b w

and the density of the body can be calculated as

3
ρ = 0.95 V (1000 kg/m ) / V
b b b

3
= 950 kg/m

Example - Buoyant force acting on a Brick submerged in Water

3
A standard brick with actual size 3 5/8 x 2 1/4 x 8 (inches) is submerged in water with density 1.940 slugs/ft . The
volume of the brick can be calculated as

V = (3 5/8 in) (2 1/4 in) (8 in)

brick

3
= 65.25 in

The buoyant force acting on the brick is equal to the weight of the water displaced by the brick and can be
calculated as

3 3 3 2
F = ((65.25 in ) / (1728 in/ft )) (1.940 slugs/ft ) (32.174 ft/s )
B

= 2.36 lb
f

The weight or the gravity force acting on the brick - common red brick has specific gravity 1.75 - can be calculated
to

W = (2.36 lb ) 1.75
B f

= 4.12 lb
f

The resulting force acting on the brick can be calculated as

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W = (4.12 lb ) - (2.36 lb )
(WB - FB) f f

= 1.76 lb
f

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Related Topics
Fluid Mechanics - The study of fluids - liquids and gases. Involves various properties of the fluid, such as
velocity, pressure, density and temperature, as functions of space and time.

Related Documents

Key Words
en: archimedes principle body immersed liquid fluid
es: Arquímedes principio cuerpo sumergido fluido líquido
de: Archimedes-Prinzip Körper eingetaucht flüssiges Fluid

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