5.

7 Motion Of
Vehicles in Water

Types of Vehicles in
Water
Water vehicles without engines such as
rowing boat and sailing boat
Water vehicles with engines such as ship,
hovercraft and hydrofoil

Hovercraft

Rowing boat

Types of
Vehicles
in water
Hydrofoil

Ship

Sailing boat

How do water vehicles without

engine move?

Rowing boat
A rowing boat is a small boat that has oars to help move
the boat.
The rowing boat uses human energy to move.
For the boat to move it needs a persons to row the boat
using oars.
When the person starts rowing, the oars push the water
to the back.
This results in the forward thrust of the boat.

Sailing Boat

The small sailing

boat moves
using the force of
the wind.
When the wind
blows into the
sail, it pushes
against them
Hence, the
sailing boat
moves

How do water vehicles with

engine move?

Ship
A ship is a large boat that is used for
carrying people or goods over seas or oceans

What type of engine do most

large ships use?
Diesel engine

Function?
To move
the ships
propellers

Location?

At the bottom end of the ship

How does it function?

In order to rotate the propellers, a high pressure steam is

generated.
The blades of the propellers will rotate and create a
pressure differential between the two sides of the blades.
The water is then drawn into the propeller from the front.
The water is then forced out at a high speed through the
back and pushes the ship to move forward.

Hydrofoil
Ship that was specially designed to ride above the
surface of the water. Therefore, they move faster
than ordinary ships.

How can a hydrofoil move faster

than ordinary ships?
1. The hydrofoil has a pair of wings
that are found under its hull.
2. When the hydrofoil travels at a
certain speed, these wings will
help to lift the hydrofoil out of the
water.
3. This will reduce water resistance
between the hull and the surface
of the water.
4. The hydrofoil now will move at a
higher speed than ordinary ships.

When the hydrofoil begins slow down the hull

sinks back into the water and its speed is like
an ordinary ship.

Hovercraft
Vehicle that can move on land and water.

How does a hovercraft work?

1. It floats on top of a cushion of air.
2. Powerful gas turbine engines in the
hovercraft turn big fans that push air
downwards.
3. This air cushion reduces the drag
from the water as there is less friction
between the hovercraft and the water.
4. This allows the hovercraft to move
smoothly and rapidly over water.
5. Due to this, the hovercraft does not
need much power for actual
propulsion.

1. The hovercrafts gas turbine engines also produce

propulsion.
2. The propellers rotate and propulsion is produced.
3. The water is pushed backwards and it produces a forward
thrust that propels the hovercraft forwards.

Shapes which Facilitate Motion in

Water
An object that moves in water,
faces a resisting force that slows
down its motion.
If the surface area of object in
contact with the water is large, the
resisting force acting on the object
will also be large.
Therefore, ships are designed to
give the least resistance during
motion. (The water resistance and
the motion of the ship are in
opposite direction)
The best shape for a ship to move
easily through water is called a
streamlined shape.

Flat bottom

V-bottom

Types
of
hull design

Round bottom

Multi-hull bottom

Jon Boat

Example of multi-hull design

Have you ever wondered how the ship

floats on water?
1. This is because of the buoyancy force
acting on the ship.
2. The force is also known as upthrust

Archimedes Principle
1. Archimedes Principle explains
that an object experiences an
apparent loss in weight due to
upward force acting on it.
2. This force is known as buoyant
force or upthrust.
3. Based on the Archimedes
Principle,
(a) the apparent loss of weight is
equal to the buoyant force.
(b) The buoyant force is equal to
the weight of water displaced
by the object.

Archimedes Principle
States that the upthrust of a object immersed
in a fluid is equal to the weight of the fluid
displaced by the object.

Upthrust = Weight of the fluid displaced

= Loss in weight of the object
Every object that is immersed in water will
experience a loss in weight

WHY?

Because of the presence of the upthrust which

acts in the opposite direction to the gravitational
force (weight).
B
Water surface
A
Weight
Weight
Upthrust
Upthrust

If the weight is more than

upthrust, the object
will be sink

If the weight is less than

upthrust, the object
will be float

Application of Archimedes
Principle
Submarine

A submarine is a water vehicles that can

operate underwater as well as on the surface