how do things float in salt water?

Answer 1

Bouyancy!

Buoyancy is the net upward force on an object produced by the surrounding fluid in which it is fully or partially immersed, owing to a pressure difference in the fluid between the top and bottom of the object.

The fact that it is salt water tends to increase the bouyancy for floating objects. If the fluid has a surface, such as water in a lake or the sea, the object will float at a level so it displaces the same weight of fluid as the weight of the object. Salt water is more dense, and so less volume is displaced by the weight of the floating object.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouyancy


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Answer 2

Heavier things float in salt water because salt water is heavier than plain water. It takes more weight to displace the salt water. If a ship goes from the ocean to a fresh water river it rides lower in the water because of this.

Answer 3

It is based on density. The denser the object is, the more it sinks. Now salt is very dense which makes the salt water sink.

Whatever is less dense then salt water will float, meanwhile the denser objects will sink.

I hope you find this useful.

Answer 4

Salt water is denser, therefor giving more support to things floating in them.

Answer 5

whatever's floating is less dense than the salt water (the water pushes it out of the way).