The Reason Why A large Iron Ship Don't Sink..

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Have you ever wondered why large ships made of iron don't sink while sailing at sea? but when we throw a small gravel, it quickly sinks to the bottom of the water...?

uss-america-1986420_960_720.jpg

USA Aircraft Carrier src

take a look to the picture of the aircraft carrier above. it has a large body and made of iron. it also carried dozens of combat aircraft and helicopters on it. however, it could still sail across the vast ocean smoothly without sinking, while we humans who only weigh tens of kilograms immediately drown into the sea (whn we cannot swim).

well,, if you've heard of the law of density, or Archimedes's principle that put forward by one of the most famous scientists, Archimedes. then it is the answer why these large ships can sail easily without sinking at sea...

Ok let's see the application of this principle in making A big ships and how it works ..

"Archimedes’ principle states that a body immersed in a fluid is subjected to an upwards force equal to the weight of the displaced fluid ".

the formula is..

Fa = ρ g v

where Fa denotes the buoyant force, ρ denotes the density of the fluid, V represents the volume of the displaced fluid and g is the acceleration due to gravity.

so based on this principle, we'll find 3 conditions when an object is put into water..

sinking objects

Hukum-Archimides-Benda-Tenggelam1.jpg

this condition occurs when the density of the water is smaller than the density of the object.
Neutral Objects

Hukum-Archimides-Benda-Melayang1.jpg

This condition occurs when the density of the water is the same as the density of the object, you can see this condition when you put the eggs into the water. it also applies to submarine technology...
Floating objects

Hukum-Archimides-Benda-Terapung1.jpg

illustration src
this condition happens when the density of water is greater than the density of the object, this causes greater upward pressure and causes the object to float.

based on 3 conditions, we can conclude that If the buoyant force is less than the object's weight, the object will sink. If the buoyant force is greater than the object's weight, the object will rise to the surface and float. and if the bouyant force is equal to object's weight, it will be neutral condition. not sinking nor floating.

ok back to our question, why A big iron ship don't sink ???

the principle is simple, to float a ship must have a density or weight that is smaller than the density of water, so that the buoyant force is greater than the weight of the ship...
Fa > W

however we know that the density of iron ship is much greater than the density of water, then how do the shipbuilders deal with this ...?

shipbuilders deal with this problem by adding a special part to the hull of the ship, as a reservoir for air. and this part would hold a lot of air. it causes the density of the ship to be reduced and to be smaller than the density of water. then it causes the ship to float....

The hull containing the air must not be leaked or damaged, it will cause the density of the ship to increase and will make the ship sink..

and also the hull of the ship must be in shape basin or concave shape, it aims to maximize the buoyant force throughout the hull. so that,, it makes the ship's pressure smaller and keeps it afloat.

mkkkkk.jpg

Iron basin src

we can practice it with a concave iron pan like the picture above. then put it on the water and its contents as well. we can see that the combination of the air volume and the concave shape of the pan will make the pan float...

References :

  1. Archimedes' principle
  2. Archimedes' principle | Description & Facts | Britannica
  3. Ships and boats | How do they float? | History of ships
  4. Why do ships float? - GARD


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5 comments
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Well this is a very indepth study and very nice elaboration of the common problem faced by many laymen

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(Edited)

sure,, lots of people still don't know it. although this shipbuilding technique really requires careful calculations for real...

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(Edited)

thank you..actually i did, but I couldn't post by using STEMsocial app..I dunno why...

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