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In simple terms, the buoyant force is exerted in the upward direction by any liquid when a body is immersed in it. It is always an upward force because the pressure of any fluid increases with depth. Archimedes’ principle happens to be the buoyancy or buoyant force exerted on a body immersed in the liquid. The force is equal to the weight of the liquid that is dispersed by the body. This blog discusses buoyancy, how it is caused, its calculation, and how Archimedes’ principle is based on this buoyancy.
What is the buoyant force of buoyancy?
The pressure exerted upward by a body immersed in a fluid is known as the buoyant force. Since the pressure of any fluid increases with depth, buoyancy is a force that is always pointed upwards. One can calculate the buoyancy either by calculating the force on each surface of the object or by finding the displaced liquid’s weight.
What causes buoyancy?
If an object is immersed in a fluid, an upward force acts on the bottom of the object. The upward force is higher than the downward force, which acts on top of the object. This causes a net upward force, also known as the buoyant force, on any object immersed in a fluid. If the buoyant force is more than the object’s weight, the object is bound to rise and float. In case the weight of the object is more than the buoyant force acting on the object, then the object will sink into the fluid. Whether the object sinks or remains afloat, there will always be a buoyant force working on the energy.
Calculation of buoyant force
To calculate the buoyant force exerted on an object, one needs to calculate the total of all the forces acting on the sides of an object. For example, consider a cylinder.
A is the area of the top of the object at a depth of h1. Therefore, the pressure at h1 will be:
P1= h1ρgP1 = h1ρg,
Ρ denotes the density of fluid while g denotes gravitational acceleration.
The formula for calculating the force on the top surface’s magnitude is
F1 = P1A = h1ρgAF1 = P1A = h1ρgA.
The above force acts downwards. Thus, the force calculated on the bottom of the surface can be calculated by
F2 = P2A = h2ρgA
The above force points upwards.
Since the object’s shape is cylindrical, the net force of all the sides of the cylinder is zero since the forces on all sides act on each other and cancel out. Thus, the formula of the net buoyant force on the cylinder because of the fluid is,
FB = F2−F1 = ρgA(h2−h1)
What is Archimedes’ principle?
Even though one can calculate the buoyant force with the above formula, it is often complex. Archimedes’ principle provides a more straightforward formula to calculate the buoyancy of an object immersed in a liquid. Archimedes’ principle states that the buoyant force exerted on an object immersed in a liquid happens to be equal to the weight of the liquid that the object displaces.
Archimedes’ principle reasons that the buoyancy of an object depends on the pressure exerted on the submerged sides by the liquid. The principle is valid for fluids, including gasses and not just liquids.
Conclusion
The pressure exerted by any fluid when an object is immersed is the buoyant force of buoyancy. The buoyant force is always known to point upwards because pressure always increases with depth. There are two ways of calculating buoyancy. One can calculate the buoyant force by calculating the forces exerted on each side of the object or by finding the weight of the dispersed fluid.
Archimedes’ principle is the buoyancy or buoyant force exerted on an object immersed in the fluid. The force is equal to the weight of the dispersed fluid by the object. Therefore, buoyancy or the buoyant force of an object immersed in the fluid can be calculated using Archimedes’ principle.
