CLASS 9 ICSE

PHYSICS

CHAPTER: FLOATATION

1. Floatation of iron ship:

a) An iron nail sinks in water while a ship floats: This is because the density of iron is greater than
that of water, so the weight of nail is more than the upthrust of water on it. On the other hand, ships
are also made of iron but they do not sink. This is because the ship is hollow and the empty space in
it contains air which makes its volume large and average density less than that of water. Therefore,
even with a small portion of ship submerged in water, the weight of water displaced by the
submerged part of ship becomes equal to the total weight of ship and therefore it floats.

b) A loaded ship is submerged more while an unloaded ship is less submerged: When cargo is loaded
on a sailing ship, its weight increases, so it sinks further to displace more water till the weight of
water displaced by its submerged part becomes equal to the weight of loaded ship. If cargo is
unloaded, the ship will rise in water till the weight of water displaced balances the weight of
unloaded ship.

c) A ship begins to submerge more as it sails from sea water to river water: When a ship sails from a
sea of higher water density to a sea of lower water density (or from sea water to river water), it sinks
further. The reason is that according to the law of floatation; to balance the weight of ship, a greater
volume of water is required to be displaced in water of lower density in river (or sea).

Plimsoll line: Each ship has a white line painted on its side, known as the Plimsoll line. This line
indicates the safe limit for loading the ship in water of density 103 kg m-3. A ship is not allowed to be
loaded further when its Plimsoll line starts touching the water level, so that when it sails in sea water
of density more than 103 kg m-3, only the part of it below the plimsoll line remains submerged in
water.

d) An unloaded ship is filled with sand at its bottom: An unloaded ship floats with its very small
volume inside water. As a result, its centre of gravity is higher and its equilibrium is unstable. There is
a danger that it may get blown over on its side by strong winds. Therefore, an unloaded ship is filled
with sand (or stones), called ballast, at its bottom. This lowers its centre of gravity to make its
equilibrium stable.

2. Floatation of human body

a. The average density of human body depends on the proportion of its constituents like bone,
blood, muscles and fat as each constituent has different density. Further, it also depends on the
amount of air in our lungs at that time. The average density of body with empty lungs is 1.07 g cm -3,
while with lungs filled with air is 1.00 g cm-3. A good swimmer can float on water, like a floating
object, with his lungs filled with air and nose and mouth projecting just above the water surface. The
weight of water displaced by him is then nearly equal to his own weight. Thus, he can swim with a
very little effort.

b. It is easier for a man to swim in sea water than in fresh (or river) water: The reason is that due to
presence of minerals (salt etc.), the density of sea water (= 1.026 g cm-3) is more than the density of
fresh (or river) water (= 1.0 g cm-3). Therefore, with a smaller portion of the body submerged in sea
water, the weight of water displaced becomes equal to the total weight of the body, while to displace
the same weight of fresh (or river) water, a large portion of his body will have to be submerged in
water. So, it becomes difficult to swim in river water. In the Dead Sea, the density of water is much
more (= 1.16 g cm-3), therefore, a man can easily swim in Dead Sea with a small portion submerged
inside water so as to balance his weight.

3. Floatation of submarines

A submarine can be made to dive into water or rise up to the surface of water as and when desired.
If a submarine is to dive, its ballast tanks are filled with water so that the average density of
submarine becomes greater than the density of sea water and the submarine dives into water. If
submarine is to rise, water from the ballast tanks is forced out into the sea by allowing the
compressed air to enter the tank. This makes the average density of submarine less than that of sea
water. As a result, the weight of water displaced by its partially small submerged part becomes equal
to the weight of submarine and hence it rises up to the surface of water.

4. Floatation of iceberg

The density of ice is less than the density of water. The density of ice is 0.917 g cm -3 and that of water
is 1 gcm-3. Therefore, huge masses of ice known as icebergs are able to float on water with their
major part inside the water surface and only a small portion above the water surface.

a) Volume of iceberg above the water surface while floating: If the total volume of an iceberg is V and
the volume of iceberg submerged is v, then by the principle of floatation, Weight of water displaced
by the submerged part of iceberg = Total weight of iceberg

or

b) Icebergs are dangerous for ships:

Icebergs being lighter than water, float on water with their major part (nearly 90%) inside water and
only a small part (~10%) outside water. Since the portion of iceberg inside water surface depends
upon the density of sea water, therefore for the driver of ship, it becomes difficult to estimate the
size of iceberg. Thus, an iceberg is very dangerous for a ship as it may collide with the ship and cause
damage.

c) No change in level of water on melting a floating piece of ice: When a floating piece of ice melts
into water, it contracts by the volume equal to the volume of ice piece above the water surface while
floating on it. Hence the level of water does not change when the ice floating on it melts.

5. Floatation of fish: Many species of fish have an organ called a swim bladder. It acts like the ballast
(or floatation) tank of a submarine. When a fish has to rise up in water, it diffuses gas from its fluid
into the bladder, so its volume increases and its average density decreases. This increases the volume
of water displaced by the fish and so the upthrust on fish increases due to which it rises up. When
the fish has to come down, it empties its bladder to the required extent, so its volume decreases and
density increases. Hence upthrust on fish decreases and it goes down in water.

6. Rising of balloons: When a light gas like hydrogen or helium (density much less than that of air) is
filled in a balloon, the weight of air displaced by the inflated balloon {i.e., upthrust) becomes more
than the weight of the gas filled balloon and it rises up. The balloon does not rise indefinitely. The
reason is that the density of air decreases with altitude. Therefore, as the balloon gradually goes up,
the weight of the displaced air (i.e., upthrust) decreases. It keeps on rising as long as the upthrust on
it exceeds its weight. When upthrust becomes equal to its weight, it stops rising further.