METACENTRIC HEIGHT EXPERIMENT

AIM :- To determine the Metacentric height of a given body.

INTRODUCTION :-
The Stability of any vessel which is to float on water, such as a pontoon or ship, is of
paramount importance. The theory behind the ability of this vessel to remain upright must be
clearly understood at the design stage. Archimedes’ principle states that the buoyant force has
a magnitude equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the body and is directed vertically
upward. Buoyant force is a force that results from a floating or submerged body in a fluid
which results from different pressures on the top and bottom of the object and acts through
the centroid of the displaced volume.
THEORY :-

Metacentre:

 Meta Centre is defined as the point about which a body starts oscillating when the
body is tilted by a small angle.
 The meta-centre may also be defined as the point at which the line of action of the
force of buoyancy will meet the normal axis of the body when the body is given a
small angular displacement.
 For the body shown in the figure, M is above G, and the couple acting on the body in
its displaced position is a restoring couple which tends to turn the body to its
original position.
 If M were below G, the couple would be an overturning couple and the original
equilibrium would have been unstable.
 When M coincides with G, the body will assume its new position without any further
movement and thus will be in neutral equilibrium.
 Metacentric height is the distance between metacentre and centre of gravity of a
floating vessel(GM) and is given by :-

Where,
W = weight of the floating body
m = movable weight
X = distance through which the movable load is shifted
θ = Angle of Heel

EXPERIMENT:-
We placed a floating body in SS tank. We took readings by displacing the movable
weights(m) by a known distance and notes the angle of heel. After taking 4-5 reading for each
case we calculated the metacentric height using above formula.

CALCULATIONS:-
Sr. TYPE OF MASS DISTANCE ANGLE METACENTRIC
No. BOAT OF MOVABLE MOVED(x) OF HEIGHT GM
BOAT WEIGHT TILT(θ) Tan θ
(m)

1 1 cm 2 0.035 11.530

2 2cm 4 0.070 11.514

3 Passenger 1.404 3 cm 5 0.087 13.831

0.565 kg
boat kg
4 4 cm 7 0.123 13.118

5 5 cm 9 0.158 12.710

AVERAGE METACENTRIC HEIGHT = 12.540

1 1 cm 2 0.035 8.592
War ship
2 1.884 2 cm 5 0.088 6.686
(with 2 0.565 kg
kg
weights)
3 3 cm 7 0.123 7.332
4 4 cm 8 0.141 8.537

5 5 cm 10 0.176 8.505

AVERAGE METACENTRIC HEIGHT = 7.930

1 1 cm 3 0.052 4.561

2 2 cm 6 0.105 4.548
War ship
3 2.364 3 cm 9 0.158 4.529
(with 4 0.565 kg
kg
weights)
4 4 cm 10 0.176 5.422

5 5 cm 12 0.213 5.623

AVERAGE METACENTRIC HEIGHT = 4.936

DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULT :-

As we increase the weight of the floating body the height of metacentre decreases . The
experiment would provide insights into the body's stability characteristics and may offer
recommendations for optimizing stability in practical applications.

ERROR ANALYSIS :-
The accuracy of the experiment is not exact and are just approximate values . There are many
reasons for the same as discussed below :-
1) The body may not be in stable position while taking the readings of angle
2) The tools used during experiment are not ideal and have some error
3) The error in taking readings (Human error)
4) Variations in water density, temperature, and surface conditions during the experiment
can introduce errors in measurements

CONCLUSION :-
A higher metacentric height generally leads to greater stability, as it indicates a larger distance
between the centre of gravity and the metacentre and vice versa. As the stability increases the
comfort of the floating body decreases. This is the reason that passenger ships are more
comfortable while war and cargo ships are made more stable.