Question

An iron nail sinks in water while an iron ship floats on water.

Explain the reason.

Answer 1

An iron nail sinks in water because density of iron is more than the density of water, so the weight of the nail is more than the upthrust of water on it.

On the other hand, ships are also made of iron, but they do not sink. This is because the ship is hollow and the empty space in it contains air, which makes its average density less than that of water. Therefore, even with a small portion of ship submerged in water, the weight of water displaced by the submerged part of ship becomes equal to the total weight of ship and it floats.