What is a buoyant force?
AThe downward pull of a fluid on a body
BThe net upward force on a body in a fluid
CThe sideways push of a fluid on a body
DThe weight of a body measured in a fluid
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: B. The net upward force on a body in a fluid
1. A body immersed in a fluid is pressed on from every side.
2. Those pressure forces do not cancel, because pressure grows with depth and so the push from below is the larger.
3. What is left over is a net upward force, and that is the buoyant force.
4. It acts on any object in any fluid, so it is not a downward or sideways effect and it is not the same thing as a weight reading.
_Source: OpenStax College Physics (CC BY 4.0), Ch 11 "Fluid Statics", section 11.7 Archimedes' Principle_
Related questions
Two objects have equal mass but one has twice the volume. Its density is:Pressure in a fluid rises with depth, which is why a container's bottom supports:Water beads up on a waxed car but spreads on bare paint because of the balance between:A tyre gauge reading 200 kilopascals in an atmosphere of 100 kilopascals means the absolutAn object with specific gravity less than one placed in water will:Specific gravity is defined as the ratio of an object's density to the density of:The buoyant force is described as always present whether an object floats, sinks or is:If the buoyant force exceeds an object's weight, the object will: