CE A 100 Mechanics of Fluids

for Civil Engineers

Lecture 4

Buoyancy
Statical Stability of Floating Bodies

Kristine D. Sanchez
CE A100 Instructor
BUOYANCY
Archimedes’ Principle
• A principle discovered by the Greek scientist Archimedes that states
that:

“Any body in a fluid is acted upon by an upward force (buoyant force) equal to
the weight of the displaced fluid.”

• Also known as the law of hydrostatics

• Applies to both floating and submerged bodies, and to all fluids.
Archimedes’ Principle (cont’d.)
• Consider the body in Fig. 4.1
• Horizontal components of the force acting on the body are in
equilibrium
• The upper face is subjected to a vertical downward force equal to the
weight of the fluid above it
• The lower face is subjected to a vertical upward force equal to the
weight of the fluid (real or imaginary) above it.
• The net upward force is called buoyant force.
Calculation of buoyant force
𝐹1 𝐹1
𝑉𝑜𝑙1 𝑉𝑜𝑙2

𝐹2
𝐹2
Fig. 4.1 Forces acting on a submerged body
𝐵𝐹 = 𝐹2 − 𝐹1
𝐵𝐹 = γ 𝑉𝑜𝑙2 − γ 𝑉𝑜𝑙1
𝐵𝐹 = γ 𝑉𝑜𝑙2 − 𝑉𝑜𝑙1

𝐵𝐹 = γ𝑉𝐷 (4.1)
Calculation of buoyant force (cont’d.)
• where:
• γ = unit weight of the fluid
• 𝑉𝐷 = volume of the displaced fluid

• For a homogeneous solid body of volume 𝑉 floating in a

homogeneous fluid at rest:

𝑠. 𝑔. 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 γ𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦
𝑉𝐷 = 𝑉= 𝑉 (4.2)
𝑠. 𝑔. 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑑 γ𝑙𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑑
Sample Problem 4.1
• A stone weighs 460 N in air. When submerged in water, it weighs 300
N. Find the volume and specific gravity of the stone.

• Ans: 𝑉𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑒 = 0.0163 𝑐𝑢. 𝑚, γ𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑒 = 28204 𝑁/𝑚3

Sample Problem 4.2
• A block of wood 0.20 m thick is floating in seawater. The specific
gravity of wood is 0.65 while that of seawater is 1.03. Find the
minimum area of a block which will support a man weighing 80 kg.

• Ans: 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 = 1.05 𝑠𝑞. 𝑚.

Sample Problem 4.3
• A block of wood 0.60 m x 0.60 m x “h” meters in dimension was
thrown into the water and floats with 0.18 m projecting above the
water surface. The same block was thrown into a container of a liquid
having s.g. of 0.90 and it floats with 0.14 m projecting above the
surface. Determine the following:
a. the value of “h”,
b. the specific gravity of the block, and
c. the weight of the block.

Ans: 𝑎 ℎ = 0.54 𝑚, 𝑏 𝑠. 𝑔. 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑜𝑜𝑑 = 0.667, 𝑐 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑘 =

1272𝑁
Sample Problem 4.4
• If a 5-kg steel plate is attached to one end of a 0.1 m x 0.3 m x 1.20 m
wooden pole, what is the length of the pole above the water? Use s.g.
of wood of 0.50 and that of steel of 7.85.

• Ans: 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 = 0.455 𝑚

Sample Problem 4.5
• A 100 mm diameter solid cylinder, 95 mm high and weighing 3.75 N, is
immersed in a liquid (γ = 8.175 𝑘𝑁/𝑚3 ) contained in a tall metal cylinder
having a diameter of 125 mm. Before immersion, the liquid was 75 mm deep.
At what level will the cylinder float?

• Ans:
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑦𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑜𝑚 53.976 𝑚𝑚 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑜𝑚
𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑐𝑦𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟.
STATICAL STABILITY OF FLOATING BODIES
Statical stability of floating bodies
• A floating body is acted upon by two opposing forces: weight and
buoyant force.
• Weight acts at the center of gravity of the body.
• Buoyant force acts at the center of buoyancy located at the center of
gravity of the displaced liquid.
• When these forces are collinear , it floats in upright position (Fig.
4.2a).
• When the body tilts due to wind or wave action, the center of
buoyancy shifts to a new position, as either stable (Fig. 4.2b) or
unstable (Fig. 4.2c).
Fig. 4.2 Forces on a floating body 𝑾
𝑥
𝐺

𝑀 𝑀

wedge of emersion
θ wedge of immersion θ

𝑾 𝑾
θ θ
θ θ
𝐺 𝐺
𝐵𝑜 𝐵𝑜 𝐵𝑜 ′ 𝐵𝑜 𝐵𝑜 ′
𝑩𝑭
𝑩𝑭 𝑩𝑭
𝑥
Fig. 4.2a Upright position. Fig. 4.2b Stable position. Fig. 4.2c Unstable position.
𝑀 is above 𝐺. 𝑀 is below 𝐺.
Notation
• 𝑊: weight of the body
• 𝐵𝐹: buoyant force (always equal to weight for a floating body)
• 𝐺: center of gravity of the body
• 𝐵𝑜 : center of buoyancy in the upright position (centroid of the displaced liquid)
• 𝐵𝑜 ’: center of buoyancy in the tilted position
• 𝑉𝐷 : volume displaced
• 𝑀: metacenter, the point of intersection between the line of action of the buoyant force and the axis on the
body
• 𝑐: center of gravity on the wedges (emersion and immersion)
• 𝑠: horizontal distance between the cg’s of the wedges
• 𝑣: volume of the wedge of immersion
• θ: angle of tilting
• 𝑀𝐵𝑜 : distance from 𝑀 to 𝐵𝑜
• 𝐺𝐵𝑜 : distance from 𝐺 to 𝐵𝑜
• 𝑀𝐺: metacentric height, distance from 𝑀 to 𝐺
Righting moment, overturning moment &
metacentric height
• Righting moment / overturning moment

𝑅𝑀 𝑜𝑟 𝑂𝑀 = 𝑊 𝑥 = 𝑊 𝑀𝐺𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 (4.3)

• Metacentric height:

𝑀𝐺 = 𝑀𝐵𝑜 ± 𝐺𝐵𝑜 (4.4)

Use (-) if 𝐺 is above 𝐵𝑜 .
Use (+) if 𝐺 is below 𝐵𝑜 .
Value of 𝑀𝐵𝑜
• The stability of the body depends on the amount of the righting
moment which in turn is dependent on the metacentric height 𝑀𝐺.
• When the body tilts, the center of buoyancy shifts to a new position
(𝐵𝑜 ′).
• This shifting also causes the wedge to shift to a new position.
• The moment due to the shifting of the buoyant force 𝐵𝐹(𝑧) must be
equal to the moment due to the wedge shift 𝐹 𝑠 .
 𝑀

Volume, 𝑣
θ Volume, 𝑣
𝑭
𝑾
θ
θ
𝐺
𝐵𝑜 𝐵𝑜 ′ 𝑀𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑑𝑢𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑓𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝐵𝐹 = 𝑀𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑑𝑢𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑓𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑒𝑑𝑔𝑒
𝑭
𝑩𝑭
𝐵𝐹 𝑧 = 𝐹 𝑠
𝐵𝐹 = 𝛾𝑓𝑙 𝑉𝐷
𝑧 𝐹 = 𝛾𝑓𝑙 𝑣
𝑠 𝑧 = 𝑀𝐵𝑜 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃
𝛾𝑓𝑙 𝑉𝐷 𝑀𝐵𝑜 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 = 𝛾𝑓𝑙 𝑣 𝑠

𝑣𝑠
𝑀𝐵𝑜 = (4.4)
𝑉𝐷 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃
Sample Problem 4.6
• A block of wood 6 m by 8 m by 10 m floats on oil of rl dn 0.751. A
clockwise couple holds the block in the position shown in Fig. 3-8.
Determine:
• (a) the buoyant force acting on the block and its position,
• (b) the magnitude of the couple acting on the block, and
• (c) the location of the metacenter for its tilted position.
 Answers:
(a) BF = 1.36 MN, location = 5.39 m to the right of A
(b) Couple = 578 kNm clockwise
(c) MG = 0.849 m
G

A
θ = 30° oil

Dimensions in meters
Thank you for listening.
Sources:
• Giles, R. V. (1977). Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulics 2nd edition,
McGraw-Hill, Inc. Ch.3, pp. 36-41.
• Gillesania, D. I. T. (2003). Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulics revised
edition, GPP Gillesania Printing Press. Ch.3, pp. 73-98.