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Haveyoueverwonderedwhymassiveboatsandshipsweighinghundredsoftonsfloatwhilesmall
objectslikerockssink?Haveyoueverwonderedwhywhenyouinhaleinapoolyoufloatandwhen
youexhaleyousinktothebottomeventhoughyouweighthesame?Thisphenomenoncanbe
explainedbythescientificprinciplecalledbuoyancy.
Buoyancyistheupwardforcethatanobjectfeelsfromthewaterandwhencomparedtotheweight
oftheobject,itiswhatmakesanobjectfloat,sink,orremainneutrallybuoyantinthewater.
Whenanobjectfloats,theupwardbuoyantforceexertedbythewaterisgreaterthanthedownward
forceoftheweightoftheobject.Youcanalsounderstandthisconceptwithnumbers.Ifanobjects
densityislessthanwatersdensity(1g/cm),itwillfloat.
Whenanobjectsinks,theweightoftheobjectisgreaterthantheupwardbuoyantforceexertedby
thewateranditsdensityisgreaterthan1g/cm.Whenanobjectisneutrallybuoyant,meaningit
neithersinksnorfloats,thentheweightoftheobjectisequaltotheupwardbuoyantforceexerted
bythewater.
Whenneutrallybuoyantinwater,theobjectalsohasthesamedensityaswater.Neutralbuoyancyis
averyimportantprincipleintheseaperchcompetition.Justlikearealsubmarine,youwillwantyour
seaperchtobeabletosubmergebelowthesurfaceofthewaterwithoutjustsinkingtothefloor.
Archimedessaidthattheupwardbuoyantforceisequaltotheweightofthedisplacedvolumeof
liquid.So,
BuoyantForce=WeightofDisplacedFluid
ThiscanbeexplainedbyNewtonssecondlawwhichstatesthateveryactionhasanequaland
oppositereaction.
Stability
Abodyisstablewhenitisinastablestateofequilibriumwhichiswhenabodyisinastateof
balancebetweenopposingforces.Stabilityisapropertythatenablestheobjecttodevelopforces
thatrestoretheobjectbacktoitsoriginalcondition.Yourseaperchsstabilityalsodependsonits
buoyancy.Thebuoyantforceonanobjectactsthroughthecenterofbuoyancy,whichisthesameas
thecentroidofthedisplacedvolumeofliquid.Thisis
becausetheforceofgravityontheobjectactsthrough
theobjectscenterofgravity.Sincetheseactionsmust
beequalandopposite,thebuoyantforcemustbe
beneaththecenterofgravity.Theweightofthesea
perchalsoactsthroughitscenterofgravity.Ifthesetwo
pointsdontlineupvertically,thenyourseaperchwill
rotateandnotmaintainstability.
Onsubmarines,buoyancyiscontrolledusingballasttanks.Ballasttanksareusedtoallowthevessel
tosubmerge.Themassofthewatertakeninbytheballastsaltersthevesselsbuoyancyandallows
thevesseltodive.Similarly,thewaterpushedoutofthesetanksbycompressedairallowsthe
buoyantforcetoincreaseandthesubmarinetorise.Thetanksarealsousedtomaintainstability.If
thewaterpushedoutandtakeninisnotequalalongtheshipthenitwillbeunbalancedandbeginto
tipinacertaindirection.Ifthereismoreweightinoneendofashipthenmoreaircanbekeptthere
toincreasethebuoyantforceholdingthatsideup.