On the 15 th of April of 2019 falls the 107 th anniversary of one of the most memorable and notorious events in the history: the Titanic Sinking. What a tragedy! It is incredible how often we think about
it with some of the most frequent question: “How could that happen? It was unskinkable!”,”How can a boat sink?”. Unfortunately it collided with an iceberg and this happens once in a bluemoon.
The sinking was caused by an accident... but dear readers, have you ever asked yourself how can a boat float? Here is what you need to know.
You can't walk on water: you're too heavy and you'll sink like a stone. Ships and boats are a brilliant example of how science works. Over two thirds of Earth's surface is covered in water: how exactly do ships navigate? Let's take a closer look by explaining the physical laws that enable navigation.
Any object will float or sink in water depending on its density (how much a certain volume of it weighs). If it's denser than water, it will usually sink; if it's less dense, it will float. It doesn't matter how big or small the object is: a gold ring will sink in water, while a piece of plastic as big as a
football field will float.
PHYSICS AND FLOATING