BUOYANCY

Buoyancy (also known as the buoyant force) is the force

exerted on an object that is wholly or partly immersed
in a fluid. The symbol for the magnitude of buoyancy
is B or FB
1. As a vector it must be stated with both magnitude and
direction.
Buoyancy acts upward for the kind of situations
encountered in everyday experience.
2. As with other forces, the SI unit of buoyancy is the
newton [N].
Buoyancy is caused by differences in pressure acting on
opposite sides of an object immersed in a static fluid.

1. The pressure on the bottom of an object is greater

than the top
(since pressure increases with depth).
2. The force on the bottom pushes up and the force on
the top pushes down
(since force is normal to the surface).
3. The direction of the net force due to the fluid is
upward.
Archimedes' Principle
The magnitude of the buoyant force on an object is
equal to the weight of the fluid it displaces.

B = ρgVdisplaced
The factors that affect buoyancy are…

• the density of the fluid,

• the volume of the fluid displaced, and
• the local acceleration due to gravity.
The buoyant force is not affected by…

• the mass of the immersed object or

• the density of the immersed object.
An object immersed in an object has an apparent weight that
is:

• reduced by the buoyant force (less than their actual

weight)
W’ = W- B ; (W’<W)

• directly proportional to the relative density

ρ’ = ρobject – ρ fluid

W’= ρ’gV