Why can a steel boat float?

Answer 1

density is mass divided by volume. when the same mass of an object has larger volume, i'ts density is relatively smaller. as in the case of a floating steel ship, the overall volume of the ship is large, making its density small. and you all know that if the density of an object is less than the density of water, the object will float.

Answer 2

An object in a fluid experiences an upward force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object. So if a boat weighs 1,000 pounds (or kilograms), it will sink into the water until it has displaced 1,000 pounds (or kilograms) of water. Provided that the boat displaces 1,000 pounds of water before the whole thing is submerged, the boat floats.

Answer 3

While a solid piece of steel would sink, a steel ship is not solid steel. Fill your sink with water. Put an empty bowl on top of the water. It will float. It's called displacement. Now, fill the bowl with water. It will sink. The material the bowl is made from is heavier than water. The entire bowl is not made from the heavy material, only the outside of the bowl. Likewise, Only the sides of the ship are made from steel. The inside consists of air just like your bowl did when it floated on the water. If the inside of the boat fills with water, it will sink.

Answer 4

Objects are buoyant when they are less dense than water. Put another way, when an object weighs less than the amount of water it displaces, it floats. Although steel weighs far more than water, it isn't the ship's weight, but rather its density that matters.

A steel ship is composed primarily of the air inside it, rather than the steel from which it is made. Although the steel is very dense, the huge volume of lightweight air compensates for this, making the ship lighter than water. Taken together, the average density (mass per volume) is less than that of water, which is what matters. Therefore, it floats.

This is also why ships will sink if flooded. Without the airspace to compensate for the density of the steel, or with most of the airspace replaced by water, a steel ship will certainly sink.

Answer 5

Steel is the same as metal. Any ship has to displace its gross weight and still have enough freeboard left to prevent the water from coming inboard. Freeboard is the height from sea level to the lowest point of the walls of a ship.

Answer 6

A steel boat can float because of its shape and displacement of water. The hull of the boat is designed to displace a volume of water equal to the weight of the boat, causing it to float. The buoyant force exerted by the water on the boat counteracts the force of gravity, keeping the boat afloat.

Answer 7

Because it is hollow and therefore displaces water weighing more than it does.

Answer 8

They float because of the air inside the ship which decreases the overall density of the ship which makes it float

Answer 9

Because the buoyant force on the ship is greater than the weight of the ship .