When a ship goes to salt water from fresh water does it float better or worse?Or no effect?

Question

When a ship goes to salt water from fresh water does it float better or worse?Or no effect?

Answer 1

i believe the salt and minerals strip the ship side and make it worse unless it is coated with copper like most mdern ships. other than that it should float the same

Answer 2

better.  because salt water is denser (weighs more) than fresh.

the difference might or might not be measurable without some kind of super-sensitive measuring tools.

Answer 3

Salt water has more buoyancy> Try floating in a pool> Then float in salt water> Big difference>

Answer 4

the difference is noticeable and measurable, in that a ship in fresh water will displace more...or float deeper..... than in salt.......there are special marks on the "Plimsoll" line..the international load line painted on almost every ship.noting the difference between fresh and salt.

Answer 5

for a given weight, a ship will float higher in salt water (have less draft) than in fresh water.

the term fresh water allowance is used to describe how much a ship will change draft between salt water (density of 1.025) and fresh water (density of 1.000).

When loading a ship in the mississippi river with a maximum cargo for transiting the panama canal,  the FWA comes in handy.  The ship will have to calcualte his max draft at the panama canal, add to this the fuel, fresh water he will consume for this part of the voyage, and check the density of the water in the mississippi river (anywhere from 0.9975 to 1.000) to calculate his maximum sailing draft. the ship must also determine in which tanks he will be burning his fuel so he can adjust his load to compensate for this distribution so he can arrive @ the panama canal with an even keel, no trim.

trust this helps.

Answer 6

A ship will float higher in salt water.

Answer 7

No real effect.

The theory is that the salt water is heavier.  So objects should float better.  But for the most part the difference is very little.

So for objects as large as a boat, it makes no real difference.

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But for objects like human body (that is just on the verge of sinking, that little difference is enough to make it float).

good Luck...

Answer 8

Depends on what you mean by "better or worse". A boat or ship will float noticeably higher in salt water than in fresh water. So in salt water you can carry more weight, but then you also HAVE to carry more weight, as ballast, because it makes your center of gravity higher relative to the surface of the water. Yes, this is critical for how cargo ships are loaded and ballasted, but it's also an issue for something as small as a canoe. If I take my 15' Coleman canoe out on Puget Sound (which is salt water, mostly) I need to have a much lower center of gravity than if I were paddling on a lake, or I'm much more likely to tip over.

Answer 9

Depends upon your definition of "better".

However, the ship will float higher in salt water than it will in fresh water. This is definate! Regardless of what others here might say. It will float higher!

The amount will not be readily or even easily noticed though.

An ilustration of this point is the dead sea; it is called the dead sea because its salt content is so high that few marine creatures live in it. However, humans and vessels float very high on this water.

Answer 10

Theoretically it would float better because salt water is denser.  (water per volume more molecules packed.  It should float higher on the its waterline because it will displace (meaning take the place of, replace) less water to achieve flotation.  We float better in salt water than in fresh.  If you weigh 100 pounds you would displace less salt water because it's so much heavier to begin with you that you displace less water and float higher.