Buoyancy is the phenomena given by

Archimedes which says the body experiences the

upward force when it is partially or completely
immersed in liquid.
The definition of buoyancy refers to whether
something can float in water or air, or the power
of water or other liquids to keep water afloat, or
an optimistic disposition. An example of
buoyancy is when a boat floats in water.
Buoyancy is an upward force exerted by a fluid
that opposes the weight of an immersed object.
Buoyant Force is given by the following
formulas:
In terms of pressure Buoyant force Fb is given by

Example 1
The key to many buoyancy problems is to treat the buoyant
force like all the other forces we've dealt with so far. What's
the first step? Draw a free-body diagram.
A basketball floats in a bathtub of water. The ball has a mass
of 0.5 kg and a diameter of 22 cm.
(a) What is the buoyant force?
(b) What is the volume of water displaced by the ball?
(c) What is the average density of the basketball?
(a) To find the buoyant force, simply draw a free-body
diagram. The force of gravity is balanced by the buoyant
force:
F = ma

Where,
P = pressure and
A = Area.
In terms of Volume, Height and area, it is given by

where is the density of the fluid,

g is the gravity.
V is volume of the immersed part of the
body in the fluid.
h is the height of immersed part and
A is the area.
Question 1: An ice cube is having density of 0.5
g/cm3 is having a Buoyant force of 9 N is
immersed in water. Calculate its Volume?
Solution:
Density of ice = 0.5 g/cm3,
Buoyant force, Fb = 9 N,
Buoyant Force is given by Fb = g V
The Volume is given by V = Fbg
=
9N9.8m/s20.5103Kg/cm3
= 1836 cm3.
Question 2: A wooden log of density 2g/cm3 and
volume 50 cm2 fall on the surface on water.
Calculate its buoyant force?
Solution:
Given: Density = 2 g/cm3,
Volume v = 50 cm2,
Buoyant force is given by Fb = g v
= 2 10-3 106 Kg/m3
9.8 m/s2 50 10-4 m2
= 98 N.

Fb - mg = 0
Fb = mg = 4.9 N
(b) By Archimedes' principle, the buoyant force is equal to the
weight of fluid displaced.
Fb = Vdispg
Vdisp= Fb/g = 4.9/(1000*9.8) = 5 x 10-4 m3
(c) To find the density of the ball, we need to determine its
volume. The volume of a sphere is:
V = (4/3)r3
With r = 0.11 m, we get:
volume of basketball = V = 5.58 x 10-3 m3
The density is mass divided by volume:
= m/V = 0.5 / 5.58 x 10-3 = 90 kg/m3
Another way to find density is to use the volume of displaced
fluid. For a floating object, the weight of the object equals the
buoyant force, which equals the weight of the displaced fluid.
mg = Fb = fluid Vdisp g
m = object V, so:
object V = fluid Vdisp
Factors of g cancelled. Re-arranging this gives, for a floating
object:

object / fluid = Vdisp/V

1. A standard basketball (mass = 624 grams;
24.3 cm in diameter) is held fully under water.
Calculate the buoyant force and weight. When
released, does the ball sink to the bottom or
float to the surface? If it floats, what percentage
of it is sticking out of the water? If it sinks, what
is the normal force, FN with which it sits on the
bottom of the pool?

(c) The volume of the cube itself is 0.001m, so the

percentage under the surface is...

SOLUTION
The weight of the ball is

To calculate the buoyancy, we need the volume of

displaced water, which is the volume of the ball
because it is being held completely submerged.

This detailed calculation confirms our rule-of-thumb

that the ratio of an object submerged is the same as
the ratio of its density to that of the fluid in which it is
immersed. This also confirms the old adage that when
you see an iceberg floating in the ocean, it really is
"just the tip of the iceberg."
4. You have a block of a mystery material, 12 cm
long, 11 cm wide and 3.5 cm thick. Its mass is
1155 grams.

which is 8.3% the density of water. The ball will

therefore be floating with 8.3% of its volume below the
level of the surface, and 91.7% sticking out of the
water.

(a) What is its density? 2.5 g/cm or 2500 kg/m

(b) Will it float in a tank of water, or sink? It's
denser than the water, so it's going to sink!
(c) If it floats, what percentage of the object will
be sticking out above the water? If it sinks, what
will be the normal force it presses against the
bottom of the tank? When the block sits on the
bottom of the tank, there are 3 forces acting on it:
gravity (a.k.a. weight, downwards), buoyancy
(upwards) and the normal force (upwards). The block is
in equilibrium (FNET=0) so the magnitude of upwards
forces must equal the downwards force of gravity. In
other words, Fg= FB+ FN
The weight, Fg= m g = 1.155 kg * 9.8 N/kg =
11.3 N
The buoyant force, FB= density of fluid *
volume * g = 4.5 N
Therefore, the normal force FN= 6.8 N

3. Water ice has a density of 0.91 g/cm, so it will

float in liquid water. Imagine you have a cube of
ice, 10 cm on a side. (a) What is the cube's
weight? (b) What volume of liquid water must be
displaced in order to support the floating cube?
(c) How much of the cube is under the surface of
the water?

(d) Repeat parts b and c, only instead of water,

the tank is full of mercury. The object is less dense
than mercury (13.6 g/cm), so the object will float in
mercury. The ratio of their densities, is 2.5/13.6 = 0.18.
So 18% of the object is below the surface of the
mercury, meaning that 82% must be sticking up above
the surface.

SOLUTION:
(a) The cube's weight is

1) A golden crown has been placed in a tub of

water. The volume of water displaced is
measured to be 1.50 liters. The density of water
is 1000 kg/m3, or 1.000 kg/L. What is the buoyant
force acting on the crown?

(b) The buoyant force must equal the cube's weight.

Take the equation for buoyant force, solve it for Vdf, and
plug in the numbers.

Answer: The buoyant force can be found using the

formula. First, we ensure that the units used for volume
are the same. If 1 m3 = 1000 L, then 1.50 L = 0.00150
m3. The buoyant force is:

The buoyant force is equal to the weight of that volume

of water.

That's a lot stronger than the 6.1N downward pull of

gravity, so the ball will rise to the surface when
released. The density of the ball is

Fb = gV

Fb,empty = ghempty A

Fb = (1000 kg/m3)(9.80 m/s2)(0.00150 m3)

Fb,empty = (1000 kg/m3)(9.80 m/s2)(0.0020 m)(2.70 m2)

Fb = 14.7 kgm/s2

Fb,empty = 52.92 kgm/s2

Fb = 14.7 N

Fb,empty = 52.92 N

The buoyant force acting on the golden crown is 14.7

N.

Now, the buoyant force for the loaded canoe:

Fb,loaded = ghloaded A
Fb,loaded = (1000 kg/m3)(9.80 m/s2)(0.300 m)(2.70 m2)
Fb,loaded = 7938 kgm/s2
Fb,loaded = 7938 N

2) An empty canoe is floating by a dock in a lake.

The bottom of the canoe has a surface area of
2.70 m2. With nothing in it, the canoe displaces
only 2.00 cm (0.0020 m) of water. Then, the
canoe is filled up with gear for a camping trip.
Once the canoe is fully loaded, it displaces 30.0
cm (0.300 m) of water. How much more buoyant
force is exerted on the canoe by the water when
it is fully loaded, versus when it is empty?
Answer: The difference between the buoyant forces
can be found by solving for the buoyant forces before
and after loading the canoe. The density of water is
1000 kg/m3, or 1.000 kg/L. First, the buoyant force for
the empty canoe:

Now, find the difference between these values (the

symbol "" means "the change in"):
F = Fb,loaded - Fb,empty
F = 7938 N - 52.92 N
F = 7885.08 N
F 7885 N
Rounded to four significant figures, the difference in
buoyant force between the empty canoe and when it is
loaded is 7885 N.