EXPERIMENT 1 PONTOON

1 .THEORY
According with the Archimedes' principle, whenever a body is submerged, wholly or
partially in a fluid, this body is under the action of a vertical upward force, applied by
the fluid. This force is called as Buoyancy Force (F), in which the intensity is equal to
the weight of liquid displaced by the body. Therefore,

F = Wf .. F = wf x g = f x VL x g = f x g x A x (h2- h1)
Let Wf is the weight of the liquid displaced, f = density of the fluid and V L is the
volume of the liquid displaced.
Three important considerations:

If f < o, the F < W and hence the object will sink in the liquid.
If f = o , the F = W and hence the body will stay in equilibrium when it is
wholly submerged in the liquid (stability).
If f > o, the F > W and hence the object will remain floating in the surface of
the liquid.

Let W is the weight of the object, F = buoyancy and o = density of the object.
Thus, if the specific weight (or density) is known, it is possible to determine when an
object will float or sink in the liquid.

The aim of this experiment is calculate how much weight each pontoon have when
they are sitting at the same depth in the water and calculate what the freeboard
would be if the experiment was carried out in seawater.

2. Procedure
1) Measure the length and the width of the both pontoons (Boat A and Boat B).
2) Fill partially with water the sink.
3) Put the boat A inside the sink and measure how much that the boat sinks, in other
words, the depth of the boat in the water. Repeat this procedure with the Boat B.
4) Calculate, theoretically, how much weight each boat should have for they sit at the
same depth in the water. Consider that the boats are carrying a weight of 30N.
5) Compare the theoretical force with the experimental force of each boat.
3. Results

The size and the self-weight of each pontoon are

different, so we need to measure the Length and the Width to can to find the selfweight (Force) using the volume equation (V = length x width x depth of the boat in
water).

Figura 1: Representation of the depth of the boat

From the figure 2, it is the representation of the boats at the same depth (Da = Db)
when together carrying 30N.
Fa = f x g x Aa x Da = 1000 x 9,81 x 0,0792 x 0,04 = 31,08 N
Fb = f x g x Ab x Db = 1000 x 9,81 x 0,0703 x 0,03 = 20,69 N
Total load per area = (31,08 + 20,69 + 30) / (0,0792+0,0703) = 547 N/m
So the force of
Boat A = 0,0792 x 547 = 43,32N 31,08N = 12,24 N
Boat B =0.0703 x 547 = 38,45 N 20,69 N = 17,76N

.. FBoat A + FBoat B = 12,24 N + 17,76 N = 30N

If the experiment was carried out in seawater, the density would be different and
hence the freeboard would be another.
Fa = f x g x Aa x Da = 1030 x 9,81 x 0,0792 x 0,04 = 32,01 N
Fb = s = 1,030 g/cm x g x Ab x Db = 1030 x 9,81 x 0,0703 x 0,03 = 21,31 N
Total load per area = (32,01 + 21,31 + 30) / (0,0792+0,0703) = 592,6 N/m
So the force of
Boat A = 0,0792 x 592,6 = 46,93N 32,01N = 14,92 N
Boat B =0.0703 x 592,6 = 41,66 N 21,31 N = 20,35N

.. FBoat A + FBoat B = 12,24 N + 17,76 N = 35,27N

The boat in seawater becomes heavier than in water, it because the density of the
seawater is bigger than the water. For this reason, the boats can carry out more
weight than the experiment with water.