Two People with the same mass go swimming. Both try to float. Bob sinks and Mary floats. They both have the

Question

(continued) amount of air in their lungs. What causes the difference?

Answer 1

An object floats if it displaces more liquid by mass than the mass of the object.

Therefore, Mary is displacing more water than her mass, whereas Bob is not. This can be achieved by Mary having a higher volume than Bob.

Answer 2

Floating deals with the mass of the displaced water (not from the bodies) and the mass of the displaced water depend from the mass AND the SHAPE of the body that is in the liquid. So the shape of Mary displace or move more water than the one of Bob.

Answer 3

according to the archimedes principle/ law of floatation , a body whos density is less than that of water sinks until the weight of the water displaced is equal to its own weight , then it floats. and if its density is more than that of water it sinks.
density = mass / volume.
in the above problem, the mass is same , so there is difference in the volume of people which causes one to float while the other sinks.

Answer 4

volume.

Mary has more volume than the Bob. Fat weighs less than water. Bone and muscle weigh more than water- so it all depends on your body composition. Some people are sinkers, others floaters.

Answer 5

Like GeekAngel said, the fat one floats.....this is why the "B.M.I.' craze is so ridiculous. This is why athletes, like football players, never fit into the index.

Answer 6

amount of fat in their body. The fat one floats, the muscle one sinks.

Answer 7

Their density.

Answer 8

swimming lessons?