🌊 Buoyancy — Archimedes' Principle

Buoyancy Simulator: Archimedes' Principle, Float or Sink?

This buoyancy simulator brings Archimedes' principle to life: an object settles until the weight of the fluid it displaces equals its own weight. Set the object's density and the fluid, then drop it in — if it's less dense than the fluid it floats, submerged by exactly the ratio ρobject/ρfluid, which is why ice floats about 92% underwater and only the tip of an iceberg shows. Denser objects sink; equal densities hover neutrally at any depth. Live force arrows show weight pulling down and the buoyant force pushing up, and an at-a-glance card reports both forces and the submerged percentage. Switch the fluid to mercury and watch a steel block float, or predict float-vs-sink before releasing — it's just a comparison of two densities.

What you can do in this simulation

• Drop an object into a fluid and watch it settle to equilibrium, floating at the exact submerged fraction ρobject/ρfluid
• Live weight (down) and buoyant-force (up) arrows, plus a card showing both forces in newtons and the submerged percentage
• Change the object's density with a slider or material presets (cork, ice, wood, aluminium, steel)
• Switch fluids — fresh water, seawater, oil, honey, mercury — and see steel float on mercury
• Predict mode: call float-vs-sink before dropping; discover the tip-of-the-iceberg 92% and neutral buoyancy

Concepts covered

buoyancy · archimedes principle · density · displacement · float or sink · submerged fraction · fluid statics

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