richardabeattie
Active member
How do boats really float?
Scenario One: A squared sectioned barge with flat ends not unlike a long box gets dragged into a rectangular lock full of water. It floats by displacing the water that was in the lock.
Suppose the lock is only an inch bigger than the barge - length width and depth - the barge can still be dragged into it. (Let's forget the dynamics and surface tension issues and assume we are moving this barge very slowly with a rope so an inch of clearance all round is enough)
Now we shut the gates and the barge is still floating. Why? What water is it now displacing? How does the small amount of water left in the lock water know whether the lock gate is open so all the other water outside is helping it?
Scenario Two: We build a dry dock and in it we build a barge which is one inch smaller than the dock and supported one inch off the bottom. With the dock gates still shut we pour in enough water to fill the inch gap all round the barge. So now it's floating?
I did Latin and Greek and learned Morse so I ought to be able to work this out for myself but I can't.
Scenario One: A squared sectioned barge with flat ends not unlike a long box gets dragged into a rectangular lock full of water. It floats by displacing the water that was in the lock.
Suppose the lock is only an inch bigger than the barge - length width and depth - the barge can still be dragged into it. (Let's forget the dynamics and surface tension issues and assume we are moving this barge very slowly with a rope so an inch of clearance all round is enough)
Now we shut the gates and the barge is still floating. Why? What water is it now displacing? How does the small amount of water left in the lock water know whether the lock gate is open so all the other water outside is helping it?
Scenario Two: We build a dry dock and in it we build a barge which is one inch smaller than the dock and supported one inch off the bottom. With the dock gates still shut we pour in enough water to fill the inch gap all round the barge. So now it's floating?
I did Latin and Greek and learned Morse so I ought to be able to work this out for myself but I can't.