Grade 11Mechanics
Why will a sinking ship often turn over as it becomes immersed in water?
Why will a sinking ship often turn over as it becomes immersed in water?
1 Answer
Kevin Nash
If a body is floating in water, the vertical line that passes through the center of buoyancy (B) intersects with the central line of the body. This intersecting point is known as metacenter. The body will unstable if the metacenter lies blow the center of gravity (G) of the body. It is stable if the metacenter lies above the center of gravity.
The metacenter (M) of a floating object is shown below:
The density of the sea water increases with depth and greatest at the bottom. As the ship starts sinking, the corresponding metacenter moves below the center of gravity. This disturbs the equilibrium position of the ship. It then often turns over as it goes deeper depth inside the ship due to the shifting the metacenter with respect to its center of gravity.
The metacenter (M) of a floating object is shown below:
The density of the sea water increases with depth and greatest at the bottom. As the ship starts sinking, the corresponding metacenter moves below the center of gravity. This disturbs the equilibrium position of the ship. It then often turns over as it goes deeper depth inside the ship due to the shifting the metacenter with respect to its center of gravity.
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