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LABORATORY EXERCISE NO. 6

DETERMINATION OF CENTER OF BOUYANCY OF FLOATING BODY

I. Introduction: Use the following guide question in preparing your introduction.

Locating the center of buoyancy is an important aspect of engineering, The center of buoyancy
refers to the point at which the buoyant force acts on a floating body. It is a crucial factor in
determining the stability of a ship, boat and any object that is submerged in fluid. The center of
buoyancy is also used to calculate various design parameters, such as the metacentric height and the
stability criteria.

The specific weight of a fluid, also known as its unit weight, is a measure of the weight per unit
volume of the fluid. It plays an important role in determining the location of the center of buoyancy of
an object that is partially or fully submerged in the fluid. We know that when an object is submerged
in a fluid, it displaces a volume of fluid equal to its own volume which is also known as the buoyant
force. The center of buoyancy is located at the centroid of the displaced volume. This means that the
location of the center of buoyancy will shift as the specific weight of the fluid changes. An object
partially submerged in a fluid with higher specific weight, such as saltwater, the buoyant force will be
greater, and the center of buoyancy will be located higher up in the object, and the opposite will
happen if the fluid is freshwater which has lower specific weight.

The location of the center of buoyancy for a typical area or shape depends on its geometry and the
orientation in which it is submerged in a fluid. For a rectangular prism the center of buoyancy is
located at the geometric center of the prism. For a cylinder submerged vertically in a fluid, the center
of buoyancy is located at the center of the cylinder, and if it is submerged at an angle, the center of
buoyancy will be shifted towards the side with the larger submerged area. For a sphere submerged in
a fluid, the center of buoyancy is located at the center of the sphere. For an irregular shape on the
other hand, the center of buoyancy can be determined by dividing the shape into smaller parts and
calculating the center of buoyancy of each part, and then taking the weighted average of the center of
buoyancy.

II. Objectives

1. To locate analytically the position of the center of buoyancy of the boat under different
displacement of the given mass.

III. Materials/Equipments

1. FME11 unit (Boat) 2. Ruler 3. Large Tub

V2 V4
IV. Procedure

1. Place the vertical mass of the unit at its lowest point. V1 V3

2. Place the horizontal mass of the unit at the center.
3. Put the unit in the tub filled with water. Measure the draft (V) on each side of the unit.
 V1 = V2 = V3 = V4 = 2.7 cm

V1 V3

4. After the measurement has been made

remove the unit from the tub.
5. Move the position of the horizontal mass 2
cm to the left. Repeat step 3 and 4 but now
record your measurement in Table 1. Take
note that your measured draft is now
different for each side.
6. Repeat step 5 by moving the horizontal
mass another 2 cm until the left side of the
unit is almost about to tip over.
7. Repeat step 5&6 but now move the
horizontal mass to the right. Stop when the
V2
unit is almost about to tip over.
V4
8. After completing step 7, the vertical
V1
position of the mass is changed. For each
vertical position, repeat step 5, 6 and 7. V3
Make each vertical movement at least 4
measures along the vertical axis.
9. Record your measurement in Table 1.

Table 1. Draft at Different Location of Horizontal and Vertical Mass.

Displacement Displacement Draft Draft Draft Draft xg yg

Vertical Horizontal[cm V1 V2 V3 V4
] [cm] [cm] [cm] [cm]
Lowest Center 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.7 10.2 1.35
Lowest 2 cm Left 1.9 2.5 2.5 3.1 9.74 1.11
4 cm Left 1.3 2.9 2.4 3.7 8.90 1.10
6 cm Left 0.9 3.6 1.6 3.9 8.16 1.08
8 cm Left 0.5 4 1.6 4.3

2 cm Right 2.7 1.6 3.7 2.1 9.33 1.10

4cm Right 3.5 1.2 3.8 2.3 8.54 1.27
6 cm Right 3.7 0.7 4.7 2 19.04 1.27
8 cm Right 4.7 0.1 5.1 1.7 6.94 1.56

4 units Higher 2 cm Left 1.8 2.6 2.6 3.7 9.58 1.11

4 cm Left 1.8 3.1 2.3 4.1 9.3 1.25
6 cm Left 0.9 3.9 1.8 4.6 8.07 1.36
8 cm Left 0.5 4.1 1 5 7.54 1.38

2 cm Right 2.9 1.4 2.6 2.6 9.01 0.83

4cm Right 3.8 1 2 2 8.22 1.33
6 cm Right 3.9 0.5 1.4 1.4 7.57 1.32
 8 cm Right 4.4 0.1 0.9 0.9 6.95 1.46

10. Draw the geometry of the immersed volume for each of the values measured. Use the
diagram below in recording the geometry of the immersed volume.

A. Lowest

B. 4 units higher (vertical mass)

 11. Determine the center of gravity of each immersed volume. This will be the center of
buoyancy of the immersed volume. Use the sample computation below as guide in
computing the center of buoyancy.

Part Area y A*y X A*x

Rectangle 30x6 = 180 3 540 15 2700
Triangle ½ (30)(4) = 60 6+ 1/3(4) = 7.33 361.33 1/3 (30) = 10 600
AT 240 yg= 901.33/240 = 3.76 901.33 xg= 3300/240 = 13.75 3300

V2 = 10 cm B (13.75,3.76)
V1 = 6cm

x
30 cm

V2
V4
V1

V3 V1 = 6cm

V2 = 10 cm
V. Calculations and Results.
VI. Discussion of Results

Determining the center of buoyancy of a floating body involves finding the point at which the
buoyant force, acting in the body, can be considered to be concentrated, here is a general procedure to
determine the center of buoyancy.

 First, submerge the body in a fluid of known specific weight.

 Second, marked the body’s original and submerged positions in the fluid.
 Third, determine the volume of fluid displaced by the submerged body using
Archimedes principle of buoyancy.
 Lastly, calculate the location of the center of gravity of the displaced fluid volume,
which represents the location of the buoyant force acting on the body.
 And there you have it; the center of buoyancy is located at the same point as the
center of gravity of the displaced volume, which means that the center of gravity and
center of buoyancy of an immersed volume is the same.

VII. Conclusion:

In summary, locating the center of buoyancy is a practical and important aspect of naval
architecture and engineering, as it is a crucial factor in determining the stability of a ship or boat
and any floating object, and it is also used to calculate various design parameters, such as the
metacentric height. We also tackled in this activity the role of the specific weight of fluid in
determining the location of buoyancy of an object that is partially or wholly submerged in a fluid.
Specifically, the center of buoyancy of an object is located at the centroid of the displaced fluid
volume, which means that the location of the center of buoyancy will shift as the specific weight
of the fluid changes. In practice, locating the center of buoyancy can be challenging, especially
for complex shaped objects. Because as we previously discussed earlier, the location of center of
buoyancy for a typical are or shape depends on its geometry and the orientation in which it is
submerged in a fluid. For a rectangular prism the center of buoyancy is located at the geometric
center of the prism. For a cylinder submerged vertically in a fluid, the center of buoyancy is
located at the center of the cylinder, and if it is submerged at an angle, the center of buoyancy will
be shifted towards the side with the larger submerged area. For a sphere submerged in a fluid, the
center of buoyancy is located at the center of the sphere. For an irregular shape on the other hand,
the center of buoyancy can be determined by dividing the shape into smaller parts and calculating
the center of buoyancy of each part, and then taking the weighted average of the center of
buoyancy. In our activity we can consider for most part that the submerged part of the FME unit
is an irregular shape divided into a rectangle and triangle that varies with respect to the placement
of the horizontal and vertical mass of the unit. That is why we calculate their area and volume
separately using our measured values and then we take their average in order to locate the center
of buoyancy of the immersed volume. For example, with horizontal mass 2cm to the left and
vertical mass at its lowest we have the center of buoyancy X g = 9.74 and Yg =1.11 cm, refer to the
Table 1 for the tabulated data of measurements and calculated center of buoyancy.