Find the buoyant force acting on a steel ball of volume 0.001 m³ fully submerged in water — Physics problems | PhysLabo
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Buoyant force on a submerged body

Easy 9 grade Mechanics / Hydrostatics

Find the buoyant force acting on a steel ball of volume $V = 0.001$ m³ that is fully submerged in water. The density of water is $\rho = 1000$ kg/m³, $g = 10$ m/s².

Given
  • $V = 0.001$ m³
  • $\rho = 1000$ kg/m³
  • $g = 10$ m/s²
  • $F = ?$
Hints
Hint 1 / 2
Archimedes' law: $F = \rho g V$, where $V$ is the volume of the submerged part of the body.
Hint 2 / 2
The ball is fully submerged, so its whole volume is used.
Solution

By Archimedes' law the buoyant force equals the weight of the water displaced by the body:

$$F = \rho g V = 1000 \cdot 10 \cdot 0.001 = 10 \text{ N}$$

Answer

$F = 10$ N