So why do big metal ships float, anyways?

[SaltyNuts]

Obviously, metal ways waaaay more than water. So why to these giant metal ships float? Is it because only the outside is metal, but they use ligher-than-metal materials on the inside? Like wooden frames or something?

Thanks!

 

[BudAshes]

Mad Helium Bro. Mad. Helium.

 

[Captante]

Because.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Is it because only the outside is metal, but they use ligher-than-metal materials on the inside?

Yes. Mostly nitrogen.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Because.

No Weigh!

 

[JackTheBear]

If the ship was solid all the way through (wood, metal, doesn't really matter) it would sink, but most of it's volume is filled with air so it floats. What's important is the average density of the whole ship, it's total weight divided by it's total volume. The metal hull is heavier than water, but it's filled with air that is much lighter than water, and the density for the metal and air together is less than the density of water so the ship floats..

If you take an empty balloon that weighs 1/2 oz (14 gr) and put it in a cup of water, it will sink. If you fill it with air it will still weigh 1/2 oz, but now if you put the inflated balloon in your bath tub it will float.

Going back to the ship, if the hull gets breached and enough of the air is displaced by water, the density of the metal hull filled with water will be greater than the density of just the surrounding water (because metal is heavy/dense), so the ship will sink.

 

[clamum]

If the ship was solid all the way through (wood, metal, doesn't really matter) it would sink, but most of it's volume is filled with air so it floats. What's important is the average density of the whole ship, it's total weight divided by it's total volume. The metal hull is heavier than water, but it's filled with air that is much lighter than water, and the density for the metal and air together is less than the density of water so the ship floats..

If you take an empty balloon that weighs 1/2 oz (14 gr) and put it in a cup of water, it will sink. If you fill it with air it will still weigh 1/2 oz, but now if you put the inflated balloon in your bath tub it will float.

Going back to the ship, if the hull gets breached and enough of the air is displaced by water, the density of the metal hull filled with water will be greater than the density of just the surrounding water (because metal is heavy/dense), so the ship will sink.

Thanks for the explanation. Like the OP I honestly didn't know how ships floated; I actually thought it was due to "displacement" or something although I didn't really know what the fuck that ACTUALLY meant.

 

[Stopsignhank]

But will Boaty Mc Boat Face ever float?

 

[Stopsignhank]

Apparently this picture is photoshopped, however there were 2 different ships that did have this name.

 

[brianmanahan]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buoyancy

 

[ElFenix]

Obviously, metal ways waaaay more than water. So why to these giant metal ships float? Is it because only the outside is metal, but they use ligher-than-metal materials on the inside? Like wooden frames or something?

Thanks!

you should buy me a beer just for reading your posts.

 

[sandorski]

Take a block of Wood and an equal sized block of Steel and toss them into the ocean to see which floats!

Checkmate Metalists!!!

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Magnetic levitation. The spinning molten rock and iron in the Earth's core creates a magnetic field that repels giant metal objects like boats. Because science bitches!

 

[boomerang]

Magnetic levitation. The spinning molten rock and iron in the Earth's core creates a magnetic field that repels giant metal objects like boats. Because science bitches!

Ah, so it's levitation. Cool! I'm going to get the OP some steel shoes with really thick soles so he can walk on water.

 

[brianmanahan]

So why do big metal planes fly, anyway?

 

[foghorn67]

Yes. Mostly nitrogen.

Only if the hull has green valve stems.

 

[foghorn67]

So why do big metal planes fly, anyway?

When air over the top of the wing moves faster than the air moving around the bottom of the wing, you get flight.

 

[feralkid]

So why do big metal planes fly, anyway?

Because it's faster than walking.



.

 

[IronWing]

Ships weigh less than a duck.

 

[mrjminer]

Ships weigh less than a duck.

Ships are witches

 

[BoomerD]

Now you're just getting lazy...

http://www.portvapes.co.uk/?id=Latest-exam-1Z0-876-Dumps&exid=thread...-regarding-battleships.2500982/#post-38781038

What the OP really means is...OMG! Lookit them big boats! They're made of STEEL, lots and lots of STEEL. We all know steel doesn't float...so how do they do it?

Is there a wooden frame under all that steel that allows them to float?

 

[shortylickens]

Petty Officer Lickens here with major news.

In the case of a Ticonderoga cruiser:

The majority of the ship is made of aluminum, not steel.
Also, there are sealed empty spaces all over the damn thing (voids) that are filled with air and make the ship MUCH lighter than it looks.

ALSO, diesel weighs considerably less than salt water and with full tanks the ship is quite buoyant.
Having said that, somebody a long time ago figured out that as you drain fuel, the fuel compartments fill with air and exert much less pressure on the inside meaning the water pressure from the outside could potentially collapse the hull.
They solved THAT problem by making hundreds of tiny fuel compartments. As the diesel drains out they fill the void with salt water to keep the compartments from caving in. Meaning a ship thats "dry" actually sinks a littler deeper in the water. In order for us to properly paint the waterline we have to wait until back in port and full fueled so the ship would float up enough to expose more freeboard (the large, flat side of a ship, which also reflects the most RADAR by the way).
Dont laugh. On the way back from Barcelona our captain actually stopped the ship in middle of the Atlantic so we could drop the aluminum raft and paint the ship. He wanted to look pretty for our arrival after the Kosovo engagement.
The gas turbines? Their solution was to make engines which operate operate with small amounts of saltwater in them.
I shit you not.

Fun fact: Because diesel tends to gel up at low temperatures, we need equipment called fuel oil heaters to keep it thin and runny while moving into the turbine engines. (F76)
Helicopters dont have room for heating equipment of that scale, so they put an enzyme in it to keep from gelling during the cold weather. (JP5)

 

[OutHouse]

posting in a Mayne thread

 

[IronWing]

What's long, hard, and full of seamen?

 

[mrjminer]

What's long, hard, and full of seamen?

A duck?