Question

Does weight affect buoyancy?

Answer 1

Hint: You could firstly give a brief definition of buoyancy as a property of an object. Thereby, you’ll understand it as the reason behind things floating over liquids. Now, think of why certain objects sink even in with force acting on it to keep it floating. Thus, you will get the answer.

Complete answer:
In the question, we are asked whether weight affects buoyancy. There is a special force that these fluids have that helps things and people to float in them. This force is what is termed as buoyant force. Therefore, we could define buoyant force as that upward force that is acting on any object that is placed in them and this ability is called the buoyancy of fluids. This force is the resultant of pressure difference that occurs at different heights. You will be very familiar with the fact that the pressure increases with depth. But why do some objects sink when buoyant force applies to all known objects? This is when weight of the objects becomes significant.
You know that the measure of the force of gravity on an object is what we call an object’s weight. So, quite obviously the direction of the weight of any object will be downwards whereas, the direction of the buoyant force on it will be upwards. When, weight of the object is equal in magnitude to the buoyant force acting on it, the object floats and when the weight is greater the object sinks.
So, that is the effect of weight on buoyancy.

Note:
Buoyant force is also the reason behind the objects seeming lighter in water. This is because some weight of the object is being countered by buoyant force underwater. So, basically, we could say that both affect each other. Density is another factor. We know that oil is less dense than water and hence floats over it.