Why does a boat float?

Question

why does a boat float?...and why does adding more weight doesnt affect it from floating?

Answer 1

good question, especially since all big ships are made of steel....and why that airoplane stays up in the air .... bouyancy...yep..seems the more hollow it is the more it floats, but all that steel....good question..........

Answer 2

One word.

Upthrust =]

Answer 3

The boat displaces water.  For every square foot of water the buoyancy is equal to I think 64 pounds.  If you add enough weight to any boat she will do down.  Some boats have a weight at the bottom of the boat called a ballast to keep it upright.

Answer 4

water displacement, look it up

Answer 5

Buoyant force

Answer 6

The boat has weight, and it displaces (moves out of the way) water with its bulk.  If the weight of the water displaced is more than what it weighs, it floats.  As the boat gets heavier, it sits lower and lower in the water.  If too heavy, it swamps and sinks.

Even a submarine floats.  Its takes in water to dive, and pushes it back out in order to rise in the water.

Answer 7

It is the laws of buoyancy and water displacement.

Answer 8

Something floats when it displaces sufficiant water to balance it's weight.  A floating object needs to have an average density lower than the water it is floating in (density of water varies with temperature and salinity)

typically boats are floated by air both in open spaces inside the boat and in the case of most smaller boats inside foam or sealed pockets of air (the foam or sealed air spaces ensure the boat does not completely sink even if the open spaces are filled with water through a capsize or similar event).

adding more weight will make a boat float lower in the water. adding too much weight will make a boat sink.