Is floating on oil similar to floating on water with like objects?
372889
Every body that is in a fluid, or it is floating on the surface, or is sunk to the bottom loses an equal ammount of weight as the weight of the displaced fluid by the volume of the body.\n\nThe force that makes body's float or makes them lighter in a fluid (for ex. water) is called Archimed's force or Archimed's principle.\nIf this force is grater then the weight of the body (G=m*g) then the body floats on the surface.\n\nArchimed's force is greater if the density of the fluid is bigger. Oil has the density of 900 g/cm3 and water has the density of 1000 g/cm3. Because the reason why the objects are floating in oil and in water is of same nature, floating on oil is similar to floating on water.\nBut water has a bigger push force then oil.
1169302
Yes, gravity exists near anything that has mass.  If you remove the air from a container, what's inside won't float.
102873
Archimedes Principle.  The bouyant force pushing up on an object in a fluid is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object.  So as long as the ship displaces more than its weight in water, it will float.  This is why ships made of steel and other dense materials tend to be very big and hollow.
376991
wind is the movement of air\njust like waves are the movement of water
159084
Ice floating is because of water's expansion upon freezing. It lowers the density below that of liquid water, meaning it floats.
689832
The object must be less dense than the fluid to float, and more dense to sink.  If it is exactly equal density, then it can be suspended.
234529
well, it depends what you mean. for air mattresses and inflatables, they actually get heavier. cuz if theyre all folded and everything, then the total weight is just the weight of the object, but if you put air inside, then the total weight would be the weight of the object AND the weight of the air inside (air has a density of 1.1kg/m^3 or something). \nif you mean like, a solid cube of wood compared to a hollow cube of wood (or any other material), then the hollow one would generally weigh less because the density of air is a lot less than most things. if the density of the wood (or whatever) was less than density of air, then it would actually become heavier if you put air inside. \ndensity is the ratio of mass  to volume. \nso a oil has a higher density than water because a glass of oil would weigh a lot more than a glass of water if you had same amounts of both.\nhope this helps. let me know if you need more help. laterz
1073116
It's because oil is less dense than water, so it floats.
143476
It's Surface Tension! Molecules on the surface of a liquid have a strong attraction to each other, since there aren't any other molecules pulling on them from the air above. This forms a kind of elastic skin.\n\nWater striders (insects) can walk on top of the water because the surface tension is strong enough to hold them up.
199557
water is always flowing. there are currents within a stand-alone puddle. waves constantly crash onto a beach, proving there is no specific point in which they stop. They can go further under the right circumstances. The only reason they don't is due to angular force of gravity. gravity pulls all matter toward the core, including water. should land reach higher above the water's level, the water shall not overtake the land, unless as specified above. since land is solid, or several solid objects, and water is a fluid, land shall not dissolve quickly to a flat line as water does.
278046
Depends on what the "mass" is (its density)!  If the mass is more dense than water, then the mass is heavier - if the mass is less dense than water, then the mass is lighter than water.  Ice is the solid form of water and it is less dense, therefore it floats.
1122613
You must already understand the displacement description so here's an attempt to physically understand the process.\n\nGravity pulls everything with mass  towards the center of the Earth.  This includes water and even air.  This is what creates air pressure and water pressure within a column of the fluid.  The force towards the center of the Earth is called the Weight.  Weight is simply the mass of an object multiplied by the acceleration of gravity (32.2 feet per second).\n\nMolecules in fluids can move around very easily.  They are constantly being pulled downward by gravity.  Generally, they are blocked by other fluid molecules already below them but they pile up and apply a pressure to the poor suckers below them.  The molecules at the bottom of the stack are under tremendous pressure in very deep portions of the ocean because they have to support the weight of the molecules above them.  (This also creates a sea level air pressure of 14.7 pounds per square inch)\n\nShips weigh less than the water they displace.  Gravity is pulling that ship down, trying to get it to the center of the Earth.  Once the weight of the water equals the weight of the ship, the water pushes back with enough force to keep it afloat.  Water molecules can flow easily.  When they begin to weigh more than the effective weight of the ship, they will flow beneath it and push the ship upward.
770625
I'm sorry, i have to correct some of the misunderstandings posted above here.\n\nTHE WEIGHT DOES NOT, I REPEAT, DOES NOT CHANGE IN WATER.   weight is a term in physics for the interaction of gravitational forces on a masseous object.  Does the mass of the object change in water?  NO.  Does the mass of the earth change when an object enters water?  NO.  Therefore the weight is the same.\n\nWhy do objects feel lighter in water?  the difference in net force is the answer.  Weight still pulls down equally... However, the water creates a boyent force which counteracts a percentage of the weight (depending on the object submerged.  roughly counteracts 40% for humans, different for other objects).  In this way, while the weight is the same, the downward force of the object is less.  That's the confusion point for almost everyone who's answered so far.
704408
wikipedia.org\n\n"On Floating Bodies (2 volumes) \nIn the first part of this scroll, Archimedes spells out the law of equilibrium of fluids, and proves that water will adopt a spherical form around a center of gravity. This was probably an attempt at explaining the observation made by Greek astronomers that the Earth is round. Note that his fluids are not self-gravitating: he assumes the existence of a point towards which all things fall and derives the spherical shape. One is led to wonder what he would have done had he struck upon the idea of universal gravitation. \nIn the second part, a veritable tour-de-force, he calculates the equilibrium positions of sections of paraboloids. This was probably an idealization of the shapes of ships' hulls. Some of his sections float with the base under water and the summit above water, which is reminiscent of the way icebergs float, although Archimedes probably was not thinking of this application. "\n\n\nOK - I thought that this might be easy to research, however, your teachers have come up with a good one as it does not seem that you can use a direct search to find much.  So, now we try some other ideas:\n\n* my gut feel is that you should turn up the edges of the foil to create a pan type struture (think of your mothers deep pans with 3" to 4" side - roll the edges for strength and bold the corners in).  This would be a version of a flat boat.  You should practice to ensure that it works.\n\n* also, why not try to contact some actual boat engineers!  - try searching under "aluminum boats" and see if you can sent them emails to try to talk to an actual boat engineer.\n\n* I would also suggest trying to contact makers of aluminum foils to see if any of their engineers could give you any ideas.\n\n* Since this type of contest is run at other locations, you might also try tracking down some of the past winners to see what they learned and what their secrets were.\n\n* then try looking for foil boat !!!\nhttp://juniorengineering.usu.edu/workshops/buoyancy/boats.html\nhttp://www.new-sng.com/foilboat.cfm\nhttp://www.sciencenetlinks.com/Lessons.cfm?DocID=143\nhttp://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/boatsafloat.html\nhttp://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/phy00/phy00291.htm\nhttp://www.nps.gov/archive/miss/programs/brj/brjactivities/aluboat.html\nhttp://education.jlab.org/beamsactivity/6thgrade/designandengineering/designandengineering.pdf\nhttp://www.sciencenetlinks.com/lessons.cfm?BenchmarkID=3&DocID=143\nhttp://www.lessonplanspage.com/ScienceWillTheBoatSinkOrFloat4.htm\nhttp://www.monroe2boces.org/programs.cfm?subpage=955\nhttp://www.nps.gov/archive/miss/programs/brj/brjpdfs/aluboat.pdf\nhttp://users.marshall.edu/~bady/rsi/4th/4bouyancy.html\nhttp://www97.intel.com/en/ProjectDesign/UnitPlanIndex/FloatThatBoat/\n\n\n* Ah Ha - and the secret is (as I suspected):\nhttp://www.nps.gov/miss/forteachers/brjralumboat.htm\n\nNote to teacher:\n\nGive students the opportunity to be as creative as possible with the hull shape. Make no suggestions, unless to show how to fold up one side to make an edge. The best designs are flat barges with small sides. The placement of pennies also makes a difference in the number held. The record for one sheet of 8" x 12" foil is around 280 pennies. Recycle the foil along with your pop cans.\nScience Museum of Minnesota, 2001.\n\n\nOK, now that you know how to win the contest, I would still recommend contacting the engineers at the boat companies and the aluminum foil companies and be ready to talk about what you learn as you win the contest.  You will impress the judges so much with your knolwedge and skill of floating all those pennies that they will have to give you the prize.\n\n\nGood Luck.
1043479
...because their density is less than water density (1000 Kg/m^3).\n\nIf the density of an object is less than the density of the water, it floats on the surface of the water. If the density of the object is equal to the density of the water, the object floats anywhere inside the water. If the density of the object is more than the density of the water, the object sinks to the bottom.
39301
Think of it this way:  If an object weighs more than it would if it was made of water, it will sink.  If an object weighs less that it would if it was made of water it will float.\n\nA coin is made of solid metal which makes it denser than water, therefore heavier.  It will sink.  A ship is made of metal also, but NOT solid metal.  It also consists of other materials but mainly air (inside the ship).  This means it's lighter than water, which is why it will float.
698894
An object will float in water if its density is less than the density of water.  Solid steel is more dense than water so it sinks.\nA steel boat is hollow and filled with air.  Its average density is less than a solid piece of steel.  If this average density is less than water the boat will float.  Of course if the boat becomes swamped  (filled with water) then the average density increases and the boat sinks.