Help Help Pls?

Question

An object floats in a fluid. What do you know about the buoyant force on the object? How does the density of the object compare with the density of the fluid?

Answer 1

an object floats in a fluid because the buoyant force is greater than the weight. the density of the object is lesser than the density of the liquid since a less dense material would float to a more dense material..i hope it would help you but i think you should also learn how to read your book..it's all there..go and get your physics book..don't rely much on the answers of other people..good luck..

Answer 2

In order for an object to float in a fluid, its MASS per VOLUME needs to be LESS than that of the fluid.
For example, a liter of water measures exactly 10cm^3, and weighs exactly 1 kilogram. Therefore, anything that wishes to float in water, assuming it measured exactly 10cm^3 in volume, would in this case have to weigh less than one kilo.
As for the density of the object itself, this would matter most in the case of floating objects that use displacement in addition to the above formula in order to achieve buoyancy, such as would be the case on a ship. In this case, assuming the ship's hull is made of steel, it is a matter that the water displaced by the hull weighs as much as the ship itself, at which point it floats, even though steel in and of itself does not, steel is denser than water, it is the shape of the hull and the fact that the whole ship is not a solid piece of steel, but contains large quantities of air which when added in volume to the steel makes the overall volume of the ship's weight less than the same volume of water, which dictates buoyancy in this case.

But in another example, styrofoam, which is far less dense than water, also floats. That would be because the material is far lighter per volume than water to begin with, and does not need a specific shape in order to achieve buoyancy.

Therefore, in order to establish the density of the object when compared to the fluid, one would have to know the name of the material, or at the very least, some of its physical properties.