Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/3/84; site talcott.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!mit-eddie!godot!harvard!wjh12!talcott!gjk From: gjk@talcott.UUCP (Greg J Kuperberg) Newsgroups: net.physics Subject: Re: Floating a battleship in a gallon of water Message-ID: <180@talcott.UUCP> Date: Mon, 10-Dec-84 13:36:02 EST Article-I.D.: talcott.180 Posted: Mon Dec 10 13:36:02 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 12-Dec-84 04:18:45 EST References: <27@daisy.UUCP> Distribution: net Organization: Harvard Lines: 29 > Something that I have found amusing > is the fact that a ship can float in a > container of water which only contains > a VERY small amount of water. ... > The counter-intuitive fact is that the weight of \~~~~/ > the water can be *much* less than the ship's weight. \--/ > > How is it that the water can hold up a ship which weighs > more than the water? -dbell- Leverage. By the same principle, the following system can be in equilibrium: -------------------- | /\ | | || | Big weight Fulcrum Little weight Note that in the case of the toy ship in the sink, shoving the ship down one centimeter causes the water level to move up several centimeters, so that the whole thing works like a lever. --- Greg Kuperberg harvard!talcott!gjk "Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government." -Monty Python