• Question: Does salt water make boats stay up or is there a different way and why

    Asked by Niamh to Jenny on 22 Nov 2019.
    • Photo: Jennifer Andreasson

      Jennifer Andreasson answered on 22 Nov 2019:

      Good question! Salt water does help things float, like people, because if you jumped into a fresh water lake and didn’t swim then you would sink.

      But boats float if it’s gravitational (downward) force is less than the buoyancy (upward) force. So basically an object will float if it weighs less than the amount of water it displaces

Comments