Question

An iron needle sinks in water whereas a ship made of iron floats on it because:

Answer 1

Compare the densities of iron with that of water. The object which is more denser than that of water implies that the weight of the object is more than the weight of water. As a result greater denser objects sinks. But in the second case the ship is hollow and contains empty spaces as a result density decreases.

Complete step-by-step solution:
As the iron is more denser than that of water implies that the weight of iron is more than the weight of water. Hence the water displaces the water and thus the iron needle sinks in the water. But while considering the case of a ship of course it is also made of iron. But it is tailored in such a way that it displaces more weight of water than its own weight. While constructing a ship there are a lot of empty spaces and contains air which thus makes the density of the ship lower than that of water. Hence the ship can float in water while an iron needle can’t.

Note: There are three rules that govern sinking and floating. That is, if the density of an object is greater than that of fluid the object sinks. And if the density of an object is less than fluid it floats on that fluid. That is, the density of an object can determine whether the object sinks or floats in water.