Boats, canoes, ships, kayaks, and rafts all have one thing in common- they are used for transport on seas and rivers, because they float.

It’s easy to figure out that if they are made out of wood they will float, because wood floats in water. However, when you see a huge cargo ship or a cruise-liner that looks like a floating building on the water, you can’t help but wonder why this massive chunk of metal doesn’t sink.

The Archimedes Principle

A long time ago in ancient Greece, a mathematician named Archimedes was taking a bath. When he got in, a certain amount of water got displaced and overflowed over the rim of the tub. Archimedes figured out that if the weight of the object being placed in the water is less that the weight of the water displaced, the object will float. This is known as buoyancy or the Archimedes principle.

How Ships float?

A ship made out of metal is able to remain lighter than the amount of water it displaces, because it is not a complete solid. The very bottom of the ship, called the hull, is hollow and therefore adds support to the ship without adding any mass.  When a ship is fully loaded, there is a maximum amount of weight it can carry before the weight of the ship increases past the amount of water it displaces.  If a ship has excess water during a storm, it is simply pumped back out into the ocean and it’s once more safe from sinking.

You and a team of students will work together using the engineering design process to engineer a boat.  The boat must follow specific guidelines which will be listed below.  The goal of the boat is to get the ONE driver and boat to other side of swimming pool the fastest.