why does a sheet of heavy metal sink, but a battle ship floats?

Answer 1

You sure got some dumb A** answers especially the one about a battleship being made of balsa and cork... I all has to do with bouyancy (Archimedes principle). The shape of a boat(ship) is such that it displaces enough water (weight) to allow it to float.. pure and simple. That's why a person floats when they are lying flat on the surface and sinks when they are upright. They don't displace enough water when upright to stay afloat.

Answer 2

A sheet of heavy metal is more dense than water (if you take the same volume of water and the same volume of heavy metal, the metal would have a higher mass), while a battle ship (including the air that's on it) is overall less dense than water. Anything more dense than water (or whatever you're sinking or floating the things in) will sink and vice versa.

What's the fundamental force responsible for this? Electromagnetism. The four fundamental forces are the Strong Force, the Weak Force, Gravity, and Electromagnetism. The Strong Force and the Weak Force is responsible for particles, so they can't be responsible. Gravity pulls things down, while buoyancy (the force that makes things float) is the opposite, so gravity can't be it. We're left with electromagnetism. Electromagnetism is based on charges. The exterior particles of matter is negatively charged, and negative and negative repels.

One simple question: when we stand on the floor, why don't we fall right through it? At first thought, this is a dumb question. But wait, you're made up of particles, can't the particles of you just fall through the spaces between the particles of the floor? Turns out, since the exterior of you is negatively charged, and so is the exterior of the floor, and those two charges repel each other, keeping you from falling into the Earth. This experiment also shows that electromagnetism is much much stronger than gravity, it totally prevented you from falling through the floor.

Now back to the water. Things more dense than water have more gravity acting on that thing which overcomes electromagnetism, so it sinks.

Answer 3

It is all about the amount of water the sheet of metal displaces.
Being flat the sheet dispaces only the same volume of water. Being heavier than water it displaces it sinks.
When you form a boat or bowl out of the same amount of metal it will displace more water. The water has to go over the edges of the bowl before it will sink. If the bowl is heavier than the amount of water it displaces it will still sink.

_____ .
sheet only displaces this much water
\ / |
\__/ |
bowl will displace this much water

Water weighs 8 pounds per gallon.
So a sheet of metal weighing up to 8 pounds will float if it displaces at least 1 gallon of water. So huge ships weighing hundreds of tons float because the water they displace weighs even more than they do.

Answer 4

the weight of the entire ship is less than the weight of the water that is pushed out of the way (displaced) by the ship when it is in the water.

water is heavy. more than 8 pounds to the gallon.

the key to making metal float is the shape you form it into.

measure the volume of the water from where the surface would be to where the hull of the ship pushes it. the weight of that volume of water is the weight of the ship.

in reality, the ship is actually held up by the force of gravity trying to pull the water down to one smooth surface level.

if you took all the ships and ice bergs and other things in the sea out of the sea, the sea level would drop slightly.

garvity pulls the ship down into the water until gravity pulls the water displaced downward with equal force.

Answer 5

the shape of the metal. if it was a bowl shaped piece, it would float. Also, it depends on the water it is in. An aircraft carrier can float in salt water, but will sink in fresh water. The density of the water is a big factor, especially if it is frozen

Answer 6

The ship displaces water the sheet metal does not.

Answer 7

When an object is less dense the the water it rests on, it floats. A ship is hollow, it floats.

Answer 8

Battleships are still mostly made from light woods, such as balsam, and a large amount of cork, both of which float very nicely. They are then coated with a thin layer of aluminum, a lightweight metal. - Mr Science.

Answer 9

It's all displacement. The density of the entire body must be less than the density of water to be able to float. Believe it or not, a battleship's average density is less than the density of water!

Answer 10

OMG, not b/c there's air in it!!!

The ship is designed to displace enough water to support it's mass. A sink is not designed that way.