This effective mass under water will be its actual mass minus the mass of the fluid displaced. This principle is useful for determining the volume and therefore the density of an irregularly shaped object by measuring its mass in air and its effective mass when submerged in water (density = 1 gram per cubic centimeter). The buoyant force on a submerged object is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced. For water, with a density of one gram per cubic centimeter, this provides a convenient way to determine the volume of an irregularly shaped object and then to determine its density. The buoyant force on a submerged object is equal to the weight of the liquid displaced by the object. Behavior of sinking objectsĪrchimedes' Principle Hmm! The crown seems lighter under water! The difference in behavior comes from the comparison of that buoyant force with the weight of the object. But the buoyant force on each is the same because of identical pressure environments and equal water displacement. The cork would bob up, the aluminum would sink, and the lead would sink more rapidly. The behavior of the three balls would certainly be different upon release from rest in the water. If the volume of each is 10 cubic centimeters then their masses are 2, 27, and 113 gm.Įach would displace 10 grams of water, yielding apparent masses of-8 (the cork would accelerate upward), 17 and 103 grams respectively.

Applications of buoyancy.Įqual Volumes Feel Equal Buoyant ForcesSuppose you had equal sized balls of cork, aluminum and lead, with respective specific gravities of 0.2, 2.7, and 11.3.

Objects of equal volume experience equal buoyant forces. Since the 'water ball' at left is exactly supported by the differencein pressure and the solid object at right experiences exactly the same pressure environment, itfollows that the buoyant force on thesolid object is equalto the weight of thewater displaced ( Archimedes' principle). Buoyancy arises from the fact that fluid pressure increases with depth and from the fact that the increased pressure is exerted in all directions ( Pascal's principle) so that there is an unbalanced upward force on the bottom of asubmerged object.

Archimedes principle explained