ARCHIMEDES

PRINCIPLE

WHAT IS IT?
Indicates that the upward buoyant force that is
exerted on a body immersed in a fluid, whether
fully or partially submerged, is equal to the weight
of the fluid that the body displaces and it acts in
the upward direction at the centre of mass of the
displaced fluid.

If the weight of the water

displaced is less than the weight of
the object, the object will sink
Otherwise the object will float,
with the weight of the water
displaced equal to the weight of
the object.

Archimedes' Principle explains

why steel ships float!!

HOW ARCHIMEDES' PRINCIPLE

EXPLAINS WHY STEEL SHIPS
FLOAT?
every body or object has a volume; that means
that if that object is placed on the surface of the
water, it will displace water which is equal in
volume to the object immersed inside the surface
of the water

FORMULA:
The volume of water that has been displaced possesses a
certain amount of mass, which is found by the following
formula:
Mass of water displaced = volume of water displaced * density of
water

#When a body is partially or completely

immersed in a fluid it experiences buoyancy
(upward force) that is equal to the weight of the
fluid displaced.

F=pgV

Where, F = Buoyant force of a given

body,
v = Volume of the displaced
fluid
g = acceleration due to gravity
We know that density

= ff - gg.

Here

ff is

the density of the fluid and

density of the body.

F= (f - g)gV

gg is

 Density of fresh water is normally 1000 kg/m3

Archimedes tells us that this mass of water displaced actually acts to
push the object upward and it causes an apparent loss of mass of the
object placed on water by an amount equal to the mass of water
displaced.
The upward force exerted by this displaced volume of water is known
as the force of buoyancy. This force can be assumed to act at a single
point on the body which is known as the center of buoyancy of the
body. This center of buoyancy is the same as the center of gravity of
the part of the body which is immersed in the water. It is this force of
buoyancy which keeps the object pushed upwards and prevents it
from sinking.

WHY DONT ALL OBJECTS

FLOAT?

When an object is placed on water its weight is acting downwards while the force of buoyancy is acting upwards. As the object starts to dip into the water the
force of buoyancy would rise. At a point where this force is equal (and of course it is opposite) to the mass of the object, the object stops sinking and starts
floating at that position. But if the object is not able to displace a mass of water equal to its weight even after full immersion it will sink to the bottom.

Though a ship is made out of several thousand tons of iron (and other materials) it is shaped in such a way that after some amount of immersion in water it
displaces a volume of water sufficient enough to counter its weight, hence the reason for floatation