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Q: How can a massive steel ship float on water?
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Continue Learning about Natural Sciences

If something floats in water does the water have more or less density?

The general rule is that an object will float, if it has less density that the liquid (or gas) in which it is placed. If the density of a liquid is greater, a larger amount of objects will float. Also, the same object will float higher, if it is placed in a denser liquid.


Why did density have to do with salt and egg float?

Put an egg in fresh water and it will sink. Put the egg in heavily salted water and it will float near the surface. This is because the salt makes the water more dense and able to support more weight. The same goes for a ship. A ship will settle lower in fresh water and the same ship will float higher in the oceans.


Why ship is floating?

An object in water displaces its weight in water. If its volume is greater than the volume of water displaced this way, it floats. Ships, despite being made of heavier materials, utilize their size and their relative empty insides to float this way.


Which floats better low density or high density substances?

Because if you look at the volume it occupies the ship will still weigh less than the same volume of water. The Greek scholar Archimedes realised when he was taking a bath what is now called his 'Law'. It is said that he ran into the street naked shouting "Eureka!" (I've found it!), although this is a legend. In his bath he realised that when an object is placed in water it experiences a force upwards (an 'upthrust') equal to the weight of water it displaces. If the upthrust is more than the weight of the object pulling downwards, the object floats. If the upwards force is too small to counteract the downwards weight of the object, it will sink. Because of its shape, even though a ship is made from dense materials, it still displaces enough water to create an upthrust larger than the weight of the ship, so it floats. However, if you somehow crushed the ship into a block, although it would weigh exactly the same, because it displaced less water, it would sink.


How is the ship less dense than water?

The amount of water the ship displaces is equal to it's own weight according to the Archimedes' principle. The more water it displaces, there is the more "buoyant"/ float-able it becomes according to the law of floatation.

Related questions

Why a ship float in water even if it is massive?

Because it is hollow.


How does the ship of a steel ship allow the ship to float?

small water displacment compared to ships size


Why does a ship made of steel float when steel is dense enough to sink in water?

The ship has enough gas in it to keep it afloat.


How steel can make a ship float?

An object will float if it has a density that is less than that of water. Or whatever liquid it is placed on. In the case of a ship, that includes not just the steel, but the entire ship - including air trapped inside the ship.


How does the shape of a steel ship allowed to ship to float?

small water displacment compared to ships size


When would the density of an object float in liquid water?

The density is not directly relevant. Otherwise, ship made of steel would not float on water.


Why can big heavy steel ships float on water?

a big heavy steel ship floats on water because the volume is mostly air. trust me its true.


How can a ship made out of steel with a density much higher than the density of water float on the water?

The steel has a density greater than water; but the ship does not. To calculate density, you divide mass by volume. This includes the mass - and the volume - of any air trapped inside the ship.


Why do ships float even if they are made of a material more dense than water?

What matters when you consider the ability of something to float is the mass of water it can displace. This needs to be greater than the mass of the ship. A steel ship is not steel all the way through, a lot of the inside is air, so the effective density is much smaller than if it were all steel.


Why does a solid piece of clay while a clay boat can be made to float?

The clay boat (like a steel ship) displaces its own weight in the water. So, as long as the sides of the clay boat (or steel ship) is above the water level, it will float. A solid piece of clay will (like a stone) sink immediately.


How does a steel submarine float on top of the water while it is in the harbor?

When a subs surfaced, it's a regular ship. It displaces water (it's filled with air NOT WATER).


Why would a small pebble sink and a steel ship float?

Well, its not the steel in the ship that floats exactly, its the oxygen contained in the ship, the more water something displaces means the more water is pushing it in horizontal direction. and because of the shapes of ships causes it to be pushed up.