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Archimedes' principle

Principle
Archimedes' treatise On floating bodies, proposition 5, states that Any floating object displaces its own weight of fluid. Archimedes of Syracuse[2] For more general objects, floating and sunken, and in gases as well as liquids (i.e. a fluid), Archimedes' principle may be stated thus in terms of forces: Any object, wholly or partially immersed in a fluid, is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object. Archimedes of Syracuse with the clarifications that for a sunken object the volume of displaced fluid is the volume of the object, and for a floating object on a liquid, the weight of the displaced liquid is the weight of the object. More tersely, buoyancy = weight of displaced fluid. [edit]Refinements Archimedes' principle does not consider the surface tension (capillarity) acting on the body.[3] [edit]Formula

then inserted into the quotient of weights, which has been expanded by the mutual volume

yields the formula below. The density of the immersed object relative to the density of the fluid can easily be calculated without measuring any volumes:

(This formula is used for example in describing the measuring principle of a dasymeter and of hydrostatic weighing.) Example: If you drop wood into water buoyancy will keep it afloat. Example: A helium balloon in a moving car. In increasing speed or driving a curve, the air moves in the opposite direction of the car's acceleration. The balloon however, is pushed due to buoyancy "out of the way" by the air, and will actually drift in the same direction as the car's acceleration.

Examples of Archimedes's Principle


Ships, even those made of metal, float because they have enough empty space inside that their total average density is less than the density of water. Helium or hot air balloons fly because their average density is less than the density of the air around them. In both cases the fluid, water or air, creates an upward buoyant force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced. The upward buoyant force is greater than the downward gravitational force.If you swim in the ocean, you may have noticed that you float more easily in salt water than in fresh water. That is because salt water is more dense than fresh water. A swimmer therefore displaces a greater weight of salt water than fresh water and experiences a greater buoyant force. In addition fat is less dense than bone or muscle. That means that people with a higher percentage of body fat float more easily than lean or muscular people who have little body fat.With the formulation of his principle, Archimedes began the study of hydrostatics.

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