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When do things sink?

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Anonymous

11y ago
Updated: 8/20/2019

According to Archimedes' principle, the buoyant force is equal to the weight of the displaced fluid. Thus anything that weighs more than the fluid it displaces will have a net downward force, and will sink. Another way to put this, is that anything with a greater density than the fluid will sink in that fluid.

For example, in water, anything that has a mass of more than 1 kilogram per liter of volume will sink. Rocks have a density of 2-3 kilograms per liter, so they will sink in water.

In air, anything with a density of more than 0.00123 kilograms per liter will sink. A typical hot air balloon weighs about 3 tons (including the hot air), and has a volume of 3 million liters, so it weighs 0.0010 kilograms per liter, ans thus will not sink in air.

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Wiki User

11y ago

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