Can a creature that weighs 13 tons, 70 ft. tall, and 50 ft long float? Keep in mind he has a shell on back.?

Question

I am playing Dungeons and Dragons and there is an extremely big creature. He is 260,000 pounds, he is 4 stories tall, and 50 feet long. He also has a shell on his back that is similar to a turtle shell. My problem is, can this creature float. He is extremely dumb but will his bouyancy allow him to float?

Answer 1

It is a function of its density, for which we need its volume, which does not depend only one length and height, but on width and the general shape as well.

However, let's assume it is shaped like a turtle, so it could be as wide as long, and that the extra height, like a small head, adds very little in terms of mass and volume, and that the thickness is half, basically, it is shaped like a half sphere.

The sphere is 50 ft in diameter, with works out to be about 7 m in radius. The volume of a sphere 7 m in radius is 4/3 Pi r^3 or 1436 m^3. That volume of water would weight 1436 metric tonnes. With a density 1/100 that of water, yes that creature would float like a cork, but at the same time, it would have about the density of styrofoam and (despite being extremely dumb, or *dense*) should not be very solid.

If you hade a rectangular piece of wood 70 ft long by 50 feet wide, it could only be 2 inches deep to weight 13 tons. I think that those D&D creature designers went a bit crazy with their numbers, they do not add to a very fierce creature. Humpback whales weight 40 tons and measure "only" 50 ft long.

But I am reading your question again, an on one hand you put 13 ton, and on the other hand 260000 pounds. 260000 pounds is 130 tons.

Answer 2

Why not learn something from this? Assume he needs to be 80% of the density of water to usefully float, and calculate how wide he would need to be for both cases, 13 tons and 130 tons. Then decide how plausible this width is. Keep it simple and assume the shape is a rectangular prism. You'll be doing physics!

Answer 3

Steel container ships full of crude oil or shipping cargo float, so why can't your creature? It's all about density. If the net density of your creature is less than that of salt water, it'll float.

Take the shell. Even if it has high mass, if it is large enough (and perhaps has a "foamy" structure), then its density could conceivably allow it to float.

Perhaps it has large internal air bladders that it uses to manage buoyancy, also?

Answer 4

I rolled the 20 sided die. it came up 15. the anser is yes but not if you turn him to stone with a spell.
:)

Answer 5

yes if it is positivity buoyant and has enough surface area, aircraft carriers float and they are much bigger