Buoyancy is the ability of a fluid to exert an upward force on any object placed in the fluid. This upward force is called buoyant force. What explains buoyant force? Recall from the earlier lesson "Pressure of Fluids" that a fluid exerts pressure in all directions but the pressure is greater at greater depth. Therefore, the fluid below an object exerts greater force on the object than the fluid above the object. This is illustrated in Figure 15.12. Buoyant force explains why objects may float in water. No doubt youve noticed, however, that some objects do not float in water. If buoyant force applies to all objects in fluids, why do some objects sink instead of float? The answer has to do with their weight. Weight is a measure of the force of gravity pulling down on an object. Buoyant force pushes up on an object. Weight and buoyant force together determine whether an object sinks or floats. This is illustrated in Figure 15.13. If an objects weight is the same as the buoyant force acting on the object, then the object floats. This is the example on the left in Figure 15.13. If an objects weight is greater than the buoyant force acting on the object, then the object sinks. This is the example on the right in Figure 15.13. Because of buoyant force, objects seem lighter in water. You may have noticed this when you went swimming and could easily pick up a friend or sibling under the water. Some of the persons weight was countered by the buoyant force of the water. Density, or the amount of mass in a given volume, is also related to buoyancy. Thats because density affects weight. A given volume of a denser substance is heavier than the same volume of a less dense substance. For example, ice is less dense than liquid water. This explains why ice cubes float in a glass of water. This and other examples of density and buoyant force are illustrated in Figure 15.14 and in the video at this URL: MEDIA Click image to the left or use the URL below. URL: Did you ever notice that when you get into a bathtub of water the level of the water rises? More than 2200 years ago, a Greek mathematician named Archimedes noticed the same thing. He observed that both a body and the water in a tub cant occupy the same space at the same time. As a result, some of the water is displaced, or moved out of the way. How much water is displaced? Archimedes determined that the volume of displaced water equals the volume of the submerged object. So more water is displaced by a bigger body than a smaller one. What does displacement have to do with buoyant force? Everything! Archimedes discovered that the buoyant force acting on an object in a fluid equals the weight of the fluid displaced by the object. This is known as Archimedes law (or Archimedes Principle). Archimedes law explains why some objects float in fluids even though they are very heavy. Remember the oil tanker that opened this chapter? It is extremely heavy, yet it stays afloat. If a steel ball with the same weight as the ship were put into water, it would sink to the bottom (see Figure 15.15). Thats because the volume of water displaced by the steel ball weighs less than the ball. As a result, the buoyant force is not as great as the force of gravity acting on the ball. The design of the ships hull, on the other hand, causes it to displace much more water than the ball. In fact, the weight of the displaced water is greater than the weight of the ship, so the buoyant force is greater than the force of gravity acting on the ship. As a result, the ship floats. You can check your understanding of Archimedes law by doing the brainteaser at this URL: . For an entertaining video presentation of Archimedes law, go to this URL: [Link]
Output: force that causes an object to float on a fluid