Why do ships float and lighter objects sink?

Question

Why do ships float and lighter objects sink?

Answer 1

Why is the sky blue ? it just is, same thing

Answer 2

Google: Displacement.  (That's right, I said Google on Yahoo Answers!  I bet the thought police delete this answer.)

Answer 3

air pockets

Answer 4

Air pockets provide buoyancy. Have you ever tried sinking a balloon in a bathtub? Same kind of principle. Just multiply it by 100.Ships can ride low in the water though, and if water begins flooding the ship it will become less and less buoyant until it sinks.

Answer 5

Boats are built, to "keep out the water."

This isn't "rocket science." <}:-})

Answer 6

Its all about displacment of water.  If you put a pennie on the water and try to get it to float it wont, but if you build a boat out of wood that weighed the same as the pennie it would float.  Its about the design of the boat not the wieght of it.

Answer 7

Just ask Yahoo answers!

Answer 8

They are boyant.

Answer 9

The air-filled volume of the ship weighs less than the volume of water it displaces.