how do ships float? cos boy their heavy!!?

Answer 1

its all to do with weight displacement and the volume of water

Answer 2

Why do ships float? Good question... after all, cargo ships often carry hundreds of cars, so we know they're very heavy.

But there are some cool things about the water that ships float on top of. First, if you had an incredibly strong microscope, you'd be able to see that even the tiniest drop of water is really is made of billions of little particles (scientists call them water molecules).

In fact, they're so small, that when we normally look at water, we don't even see that it's made of molecules at all and the water just looks nice and smooth to us! Think about how small that is! Even grains of sugar aren't that small!!

Another thing about water is that all these billions of water molecules are just flying around all the time. Have you ever seen those little black bugs (like gnats) that fly around and around in a big bunch. It's sort of like that (except way more of them) and they're all just flying around all over the place bumping into each other and into anything else in the way.

Well, the ship is sitting on top of a huge number of these water molecules.... many more than the number of grains of sugar in all the sugar in the world. And these molecules are constantly bumping into the bottom of the ship. Each time one of them bumps into the bottom of the ship, it's like a little push, and that's what keeps it floating on the water. It is possible, that if a ship is too heavy, then it will sink (but people who run the ships are supposed to make sure it isn't too heavy before they start!).

Here's a cool experiment you could try. Fill your sink with water, then put a bowl in it. Now see how much weight you can put in the bowl before it sinks. You could even pour in water as the weight. If you use water, look at how high the water comes up on the inside and on the outside of the bowl as you add more water. Is it the same or different?

And by the way, isn't it cool that it doesn't matter how deep or shallow the water is? If something floats in 2 feet of water, it will float in 2000 feet of water!

I hope this makes sense

Answer 3

But there are some cool things about the water that ships float on top of. First, if you had an incredibly strong microscope, you'd be able to see that even the tiniest drop of water is really is made of billions of little particles (scientists call them water molecules).

In fact, they're so small, that when we normally look at water, we don't even see that it's made of molecules at all and the water just looks nice and smooth to us! Think about how small that is! Even grains of sugar aren't that small!!

Another thing about water is that all these billions of water molecules are just flying around all the time. Have you ever seen those little black bugs (like gnats) that fly around and around in a big bunch. It's sort of like that (except way more of them) and they're all just flying around all over the place bumping into each other and into anything else in the way.

Well, the ship is sitting on top of a huge number of these water molecules.... many more than the number of grains of sugar in all the sugar in the world. And these molecules are constantly bumping into the bottom of the ship. Each time one of them bumps into the bottom of the ship, it's like a little push, and that's what keeps it floating on the water. It is possible, that if a ship is too heavy, then it will sink (but people who run the ships are supposed to make sure it isn't too heavy before they start!).

Here's a cool experiment you could try. Fill your sink with water, then put a bowl in it. Now see how much weight you can put in the bowl before it sinks. You could even pour in water as the weight. If you use water, look at how high the water comes up on the inside and on the outside of the bowl as you add more water. Is it the same or different?

And by the way, isn't it cool that it doesn't matter how deep or shallow the water is? If something floats in 2 feet of water, it will float in 2000 feet of water!

Answer 4

That's why Archimedes jumped out of his bath and shouted Eureka running naked down the street - cos he figured that one out.

Ships are heavy but they're also big.

Water is also heavy.

Lower the ship gradually into the water. It sinks down gradually. Some water moves out of the way. That water is heavy. Once the ship has shoved out of the way an amount of water that is as heavy as the ship itself, it stops sinking. That's floating.

If the ship is tight and compact but still heavy (say if it's a solid metal bar) then it never manages to shove enough water out of the way and it sinks.

Submarines have a trickier job to do - once fully underwater, they have to shove an amount of water out the way that is exactly the same weight as them, or they will pop to the surface or sink to the bottom. They need buoyancy chambers to do that - they pump more or less air into the chambers to shove more or less water in or out of the chambers. Water in the chambers is not shoved out of the way, so the submarine is effectively smaller and more inclined to sink.

Fish do the same with their swim bladders - they hold gas in a little bag that makes them a little fatter or a little slimmer so that they can exactly balance their own weight in the water.

Answer 5

Water displacement, surface tension of the water, and volume of the hollow space inside the boat.

Answer 6

Cos they are lighter than the ocean or lake, don't try putting a warship in a bath tho cos the bath would get damaged.

Answer 7

Two words. Surface tension.

Answer 8

Due to the upthrust.

Answer 9

It is due to the way their hulls are shaped.

Answer 10

i have no idea!!! been wondering that too!!!