Archimedes' principle links the buoyant force to something the object does to the fluid around it. What does it state?
AThe buoyant force equals the object's weight
BThe buoyant force equals the object's volume
CThe buoyant force equals the fluid's density
DThe buoyant force equals the displaced weight
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: D. The buoyant force equals the displaced weight
1. Remove a submerged object and the hole it leaves fills with fluid.
2. That replacement fluid is held up by the surrounding fluid, so the upward force available at that spot equals its weight.
3. The buoyant force on the original object is therefore the weight of the fluid it displaces.
4. It equals the object's own weight only in the special case of floating, so that cannot be the general statement.
5. A volume and a density are not forces, so neither can equal a buoyant force.
_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: