How Do Cruise Ships Float

A solid bar of steel dropped from a cruise ship will unquestionably sink until it touches the bottom of the sea.

How do cruise ships float. Gravity exerts a downward force on the object its weight which is determined by the objects mass. So if the force exerted downward on the object by gravity is less than the buoyant force the object will float. The density of water is 1 kilogram per liter kgL at 392.

Now what if we start loading the ship. Put simply in the case of 168-ton Anthem of the Seas and other large ships giant blocks of the ship are made and welded together to form the whole ship. For example a balloon has a very low density because it is full of air.

It sinks down further displacing more water bigger shaded area. The size of an object such as a ship isnt what makes it float. The amount of water it displaces shaded area weighs as much as the ship.

I have been on three crosses in my life time and I was always wondering how a ship that weighed millions of pounds could stay a float. Cruise ships float with help from density and a principal called buoyancybecause of greater surface area. When you set a boat on the water it pushes down and displaces the amount of water equal to its weight.

And its not just about total mass. A lot of a ships ability to float comes from the way that the ship is designed below the water. But a boat actually has.

The only time a boat will start to sink is when the upward force of the water becomes exactly equal to its weight. The weight of the ship and its load pulling. Cruise ships may weigh hundreds of thousands of tons but theyre still some of the best floaters out there.