Raflores Jr., Melvin B.

CE140-1P/B2

EE/3

20131005333

21 September 2016
Project

Buoyancy strong enough to keep people on the waters surface?

There are many different Series/Films with an involvement with fluids, but this
study derives its ideas from the Japanese animated show Kantai Collection, as well
as tackling two ideas: (1) Can water (or in the case of the sow, seawater) keep a
person afloat while standing directly above water?, and (2) Will moving above the
waters surface at a sufficient speed actually help a person stay above the waters
surface?.
Kantai Collection (JP: ; romanization: Kantai Korekushon;
shorthand:
; Kankore) was originally a Japanese Online RNGbased card-collecting game made by Kadokawa Games in 2013, published by
DMM.com. It is about anthropomorphized WWII-era Imperial Japanese Navy (not to
be confused with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, or JMSDF) ships fighting a
faction of abomination-like enemies, called the abyssals, using guns, artillery shells,
bombs, torpedoes, and the like. It was created to cater to military otakus (Militarybased enthusiasts), but ended up being popular due to fanarts, playthroughs, and
the like. Due to that popularity, it eventually got slated for an animated series,
which was released back at January 2015. The show featured how the game was in
the eyes of the shipgirls (; Kantai Musume, or KanMusume for short), and
how they carried out their actions, something the game would not be able to show.
In most of the episodes in the series, the girls were shown to be capable of standing
directly on top of seawater, as well as traversing on top of it. This study will verify,
using fluid mechanics, if the ideas are possible.
For this study, we will be assuming the shape of a human body to be
definable through three dimensions, length, width and height, for simplification
purposes(h = 1.524m, length = =.2985m, width = 0.4572m). We will also assume
seawaters specific weight to be 10.03 kN/m 3, as well as an average persons weight
of 185 lbf, or around 823 N. Using the Archimedes principle, the weight of the
displaced water caused by a body is equal to the bouyant force. In this case, the
buoyant force applied on a body directlly counteracts the weight of the body,
resulting with a net vertical force of zero. Basically,

=Fb =V =0
Using this equation, we
can solve for the buoyant force
exerted
on
the
character
Yuudachi on Figure 1, resulting
in a force of 2.086kN, which is
equal to the amount of force by
the body of water displaced by
our character. However, with
actual testing, a human will not
be able to stand perfectly on top Figure 1 Deuteragonist "Yuudachi" shown moving with a
of water. This is due to the velocity v above the surface of seawater

Raflores Jr., Melvin B.

CE140-1P/B2

EE/3

20131005333

21 September 2016
Project

human having a smaller defined volume, as well as a more concentrated weight.

Moreover, this means that the buoyant force and the weight (with respect to both
densities), have a resultant of not being equal to zero. Even though a human is less
dense than water overall, most of that is attributed to our oxygen and carbon
dioxide composition, which is mostly at the upper portion of our bodies. The lower
limbs have a larger weight concentration, and therefore, will have a larger density.
That is how humans float in water. At a minimum, we can only be partially
submerged (and sink by drowning when we lose air inside our body), but not stand
perfectly on top of water. The second case is a similar case, but with a horizontal
force. This will only result in a resultant force (derived from the FBD from Fig.1) that
is pointing at Quadrant III, downward and to the left. Seawater cannot lift us from
below the foot because of the concentration of mass from below the foot is high
enough that seawater is not enough to lift the person at that point.
In summary, man cannot float on top of seawaters surface from the foot, as
well as move on top of the surface directly. However, if the viscosity and
concentration/density is sufficient, it may be possible for a human to stand on a top
of a different fluid (however, such properties would be closely approaching a solids
properties).