• Derpgon@programming.dev
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    17
    ·
    1 day ago

    Boat displacement is the amount of water the boat displaces while floating. It is equal to boat weight.

    So, if you put a 100 ton boat in enclosed bowl, you will of course get 100 tons more on a scale. However, if you do the same with a large surface body of water (river, lake, ocean), the water will be displaced equally over a large surface area, thus distributing the weight. You still get 100 tons more, but less over the are “under” the boat.

    • batmaniam@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      edit-2
      1 day ago

      I’m only going to be a pedant because that’s sort of the point of these conversations, that’s not a bad interpretation and I appreciate you posting it.

      Edit re-reading your answer we might be saying the same thing. Leaving incase this version lights someone’s bulb

      BUT, it’s not so much that it’s “distributed” as that, so long as the boat floats, there will be a mass of water displaced exactly equal to the mass of the boat. In this case it’s displaced off the bridge (off either end). There is zero force being applied up or downstream (except during the initial transition). That’s the fun thing about incomprehensible fluids, every infinitely small point at the bottom of a water colum ONLY has the force of the column above it acting on it. A pressure gage will read the same for a square mm or square m.

      Spot on with the bowl though. The displaced water can’t leave the system in that case so the masses add.

      Heres the action lab video BTW! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SUq_tM3yGTM&pp=ygUKQWN0aW9uIGxhYg%3D%3D