2007-09-23 06:08:22 · 7 answers · asked by josh s 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Chemistry
Because the volume of water it displaces weighs more than the ship itself.
2007-09-23 06:13:28 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because of buoyancy which means that the volume of the water displaced by the ship weighs more than the ship itself and so it floats. By the way if a ship just floats in salt water, it will sink in fresh water!
2007-09-23 06:15:14 · answer #2 · answered by Swamy 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The density and buoyant force of an object determines whether an object floats or not. Metal is pretty dense which means it should sink in water. However, boats have a large pocket of air at the bottom which decreases the overall density of the boat. This allows it to float. If you were to fill that space of air with stuff, you will find the boat sinking more and more.
2007-09-23 06:14:00 · answer #3 · answered by Jo 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A steel ship floats because of the relationship between surface area of the hull and the surface tension of water molecules. Wooden boats use the same effect plus the buoyancy of the wood.
2007-09-23 06:14:18 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am responding to the statement from another posting saying that ships can not go from fresh water to salt water a visa-verse. My questions is then in the great lakes do the huge ships that, ie. go from Duluth MN, through the lakes to the ocean do they off load their cargo to other ships before they hit the ocean? Do they use different types of ships?
2007-09-23 06:25:00 · answer #5 · answered by M&M 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
a ship floats be cause it wieghs less than the amount of water it dissplaces, same reason anything else floats
2007-09-23 06:17:51 · answer #6 · answered by bufordbill 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
because density of ship is less than water.therefore it floats
2007-09-23 06:18:10 · answer #7 · answered by sharad m 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋