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Is it true that a floating object will be in stable equilibrium only if its center of buoyancy lies above its center of gravity? Illustrate with examples.

Is it true that a floating object will be in stable equilibrium only if its center of buoyancy lies above its center of gravity? Illustrate with examples.

Grade:11

1 Answers

Kevin Nash
askIITians Faculty 332 Points
8 years ago
No, it is not true that a floating object will not be in stable equilibrium only if the center of buoyancy lies above its center of gravity.
Consider an object flats in a pond.
For stable equilibrium, the buoyant force (Fb) which acts towards the center of buoyancy (B) and the weight (W) of the object acts towards the center of gravity (G) should lie on the same vertical axis. This is shown below:

234-1825_1.PNG
When the center of gravity lies above the center of buoyancy but not on the same vertical axis, a net torque acts on the object. Thus, the object will be in unstable equilibrium.
234-721_1.PNG
The above example shows that the object is not in stable equilibrium when the center of gravity lies above the center of buoyancy. But both the center should lie on the same vertical axis of the object.

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