What is the direction of the buoyancy force?

[harvhk852]

What is the direction of the buoyancy force?
Why the buoyancy force acts in this direction??

Thanks for any help

 

[CPP]

i believe the buoyant force acts upward through the COG of the displaced volume.

 

[russ_watters]

CPP is correct (welcome to PF, both of you!). As for why...um...it seems so straightforward it is tough for me to answer.

Consider a container full of water - its weight acts at the center of mass. Now empty the container, seal it, and submerge it in a larger container of water. You can almost consider buoyancy a "hole" in the water, or even kinda like a negative weight.

 

[grant9076]

Another way to look at the same concept is to consider a given volume of fluid containing a given amount and type of objects as a closed system with a center of gravity. The most stable state for such a system is with the center of gravity at the lowest possible point (while still remaining a closed system). This only happens when the denser objects sink to the bottom and the less dense objects (less dense than the fluid) rise to the top.

 

[Gokul43201]

What is the direction of the buoyancy force?
Why the buoyancy force acts in this direction??

This looks like homework. Is it?

Look up the standard textbook derivation for the buoyant force. It clearly shows how the direction of the buoyant force follows from the variation of pressure in the fluid.

 

[Ki Man]

This looks like homework. Is it?

I doubt it's his undergrad thesis statement, so most likely

 

[venik]

water is heavier than air, and i think it might have something to do with building pressure as you get deeper in water

 

[russ_watters]

Since water is largely incompressible, no, buoyancy of a given volume varies very little with depth.