An object of average density P floats at the surface of a fluid of density Pf/Wd.
(a) How must the two densities be related?
(b) In view of the answer to part (a), how can steel ships float in water?
(c) In terms of P and Pf what fraction of the object is submerged and what fraction is above the fluid? Check that your answers give the correct limiting behavior as P Pf/Wd and as P O.
(d) While on board your yacht, your cousin Throckmorton cuts a rectangular piece (dimensions 5.0 X 4.0 X 3.0 cm) out of a life preserver and throws it into the ocean. The piece has a mass of 42 g. As it floats in the ocean, what percentage of its volume is above the surface?