PHYSICS

Board – ICSE Class – 9th Topic – UPTHRUST IN FLUIDS, ARCHIMEDES PRINCIPLE & FLOATATION

UPTHRUST AND ARCHIMEDES PRINCIPLE

➢ Buoyancy and upthrust:
• When a body is partially or whole immersed in a liquid, an upward force
acts on it known as upthrust or buoyant force.
• The property of liquid to exert an upward force on a body immersed in it,
is called buoyancy.
The two forces acting on the body immersed in liquid:

• Unit of Upthrust
Upthrust is a force, it is measured in newton (N) or kgf.

➢ Characteristics properties of Upthrust

(i) Larger the volume of body submerged in a fluid, greater is the upthrust.
(ii) For same volume inside the fluid more the density of fluid, greater is the upthrust.
(iii) The upthrust acts on the body in upward direction at the centre of buoyancy i.e., the
centre of gravity of the displaced fluid.

➢ Upthrust is equal to the weight of displaced liquid

• When a body is immersed in a liquid, upthrust on it due to liquid is equal to the weight
of the liquid displayed by the submerged part of the body.
𝐔𝐩𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐅𝐁 = 𝐕 𝛒 𝐠
V ρ g= Volume of liquid displaced × density of liquid × acceleration due to gravity.
• Factors affecting the Upthrust
(i) Volume of the body submerged in liquid (or fluids)
(ii) Density of the liquid (or fluid) in which the body is submerged.
• Effect of Upthrust
The effect of upthrust is that weight of the body immersed in liquid appears to be less
than its actual weight.

➢ Archimedes principle
Archimedes principle states that when a body is immersed partially or completely in a
liquid, it experiences an upthrust, which is equal to the weight of the liquid displaced by it.

Head Office: 106-107-108 Lake Homes Shopping Complex, Chandivali IRB Road, Mumbai 400076 T.: 022 4120 3067│E.: info@speedlabs.in
PHYSICS

Apparent weight of an object = True weight of object in air – upthrust (weight of water
displaced)
Buoyant force = weight of water displaced

➢ Solid bodies with density (𝛒) greater than density of liquid (𝛒𝐋 ) sink while with
density (𝛒) less than density of liquid (𝛒𝐋 ) float.
Let a body of volume V and density ρ be immersed completely in a liquid of density ρL .
The weight of the body acting downwards will be W = Vρg and the maximum upthrust on
the body acting upwards will be FB′ = VρL g,
Following three cases may arise:
(i) W > FB′ or Vρg > VρL g or ρ > ρL , the body will sink due to net force (W − FB′ ) acting
downwards.
(ii) If W = FB′ or Vρg = VρL g or ρ = ρL , the body will float and the net force on the body is
zero.
(iii) If W < FB′ or Vρg < VρL g or ρ < ρL , the body will float due to net force (FB′ − W) acting
upwards and only that much volume v of the body will submerge inside the liquid due
to which upthrust FB (= vρL g) balances the weight W. The net force on the body is zero
in this situation also.

RELATIVE DENSITY AND ITS MEASUREMENT BY ARCHEMEDES PRINCIPLE

➢ Density
• The density of a substance is its mass per unit volume. i.e.,
𝐌
𝛒=
𝐕
• Units of density
SI unit of density is kg m−3
C.G.S. unit of density is g cm−3
• Effect of temperature on density
- Density of most of the substances decreases with the increase in temperature and
increases with the decrease in temperature.

Head Office: 106-107-108 Lake Homes Shopping Complex, Chandivali IRB Road, Mumbai 400076 T.: 022 4120 3067│E.: info@speedlabs.in
PHYSICS
- The density of water is maximum at 4°C, equal to 1 g cm−3 or 1000 kg m−3

➢ Relative density
• The relative density (R.D) of a substance is the ratio of the density of that substance to
the density of water at 4°C.
Density of substance (ρS)
R. D =
Density of water at 4°C (ρw )
• Relative density of a substance is also defined as the ratio of the mass of a certain
volume of a substance to that mass of an equal volume of water at 4°C
Mass of a certain volume ofa substance (mS )
R. D =
Mass of an equal volume of water at 4°C (mw )
• Unit of relative density
In C.G.S system, density of water at 4°C is 1 g cm−3
In S.I system, density of water at 4°C is 1000 g m−3

➢ Determination of relative density of a solid substance by Archimedes principle

Weight of body in air
R. D. =
Weight of body in air − Weight of body in water
W1
R. D. =
W1 − W2

(i) R.D. of a solid denser than water and insoluble in it.

Weight of solid in air
R. D. =
Loss in weight of solid in water

(ii) R.D. of a solid denser than water and soluble in it.

Weight of solid in air
R. D. = × R. D. of liquid
Loss in weight of solid in liquid

➢ Determination of relative density of a liquid by Archimedes’ principle

Weight of body in air − Weight of body in liquid

R. D. =
Weight of body in air − Weight of body in water

W1 − W2
R. D. of liquid =
W1 − W2

FLOATATION
➢ Principle of floatation
(i) The weight W of body acting vertically downwards, through the centre of gravity G of
the body. This force has a tendency to sink the body.

Head Office: 106-107-108 Lake Homes Shopping Complex, Chandivali IRB Road, Mumbai 400076 T.: 022 4120 3067│E.: info@speedlabs.in
PHYSICS
(ii) The upthrust FB of the liquid acting vertically upwards,
through the centre of buoyancy B i.e., the centre of gravity
of the displaced liquid. The upthrust is equal in magnitude
to the weight of the liquid displaced.
This force has a tendency to make the body float.

• In magnitude,
W = volume of body × density of body × g
FB = Volume of submerged part of body × density of liquid × g

Case (i)
When W > FB′ i.e., the weight of the body is greater
than the weight of the displaced liquid, body will sink.
ρ > ρL

Case (ii)
When W = FB′ i.e., the weight of the body is equal to
the weight of the displaced liquid, the body will float
just inside the surface of the liquid.
ρ = ρL

Case (iii)
When W < FB′ i.e., the weight of the body is less than
buoyant force, the body will float partially above the
surface of the liquid.
ρ < ρL

• W = FB
∴ Apparent weight of a floating body = 0 (zero)
• The weight of a floating body is equal to the weight of the liquid displaced by its
submerged part.

Head Office: 106-107-108 Lake Homes Shopping Complex, Chandivali IRB Road, Mumbai 400076 T.: 022 4120 3067│E.: info@speedlabs.in
PHYSICS
➢ Relation between volume of submerged part of a floating body, the densities of liquid
and the body
Volume of immersed part of body Density of body
=
Total volume of body Density of body

v ρS
=
V ρL

➢ Application of the principle of floatation

(i) Floatation of iron ship
- An iron nail sinks in water while a ship floats
- A loaded ship is submerged more while an unloaded ship is less submerged.
- A ship begins to submerge more as it sails from sea water to river water
- An unloaded ship is filled with sand at its bottom

(ii) Floatation of human body

- It is easier for a man to swim in sea water than in fresh (or river) water.

(iii) Floatation of submarines

(iv) Floatation of iceberg

- Volume of iceberg above the water surface while floating.
v ρice
=
V ρwater
- Icebergs are dangerous for ships
- No change in level of water on melting a floating piece of ice.

(v) Floatation of fish

(vi) Rising of balloons

- The balloon does not rise indefinitely.

Head Office: 106-107-108 Lake Homes Shopping Complex, Chandivali IRB Road, Mumbai 400076 T.: 022 4120 3067│E.: info@speedlabs.in