How Much Weight Can Float Your Boat?

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How Much Weight Can Your Boat Float?

How much is your boat able to hold? A boat can only hold so much weight before it starts to sink. Too much weight on a boat can cause the boat to sway back and forth or roll over. It is very important to make sure that the load of your cargo is balanced or the chance of capsizing a boat is greatly increased.
When weight is added to a vessel, the boat will start to lower in the water, but it will not sink because of the shape of the hull. Many boats are designed with a flat-bottom because they are able to hold more in their cargo hold. The only problem with the flat-bottom design is weight distribution. If there is too much weight on one side than another, your boat is prone to capsize. Balance is a major priority for the flat-bottom. Too much weight on one size causes the boat to rock and tip. There is also a problem with overloading the vessel and making the boat sink because of its short side walls. The flat-bottom is also good for boating in shallow waters, they are very agile, and cheap to build. Smaller versions of these boats are called Jon boats. The bigger styles of the Jon boats are barges.
The second type of vessel bottom is a round with keel design. The keel design is a narrow V-shaped hull that extends underneath to create a centerline to keep it from rolling over in rough waters. A few problems with the rounded keel hull are that it cannot travel in shallow waters. This type of boat is also more expensive to build than a flat-bottom Jon boat.
The last type of boat hull is a multi-hull vessel. A multi-hull boat is the most expensive style of boat to build. The reason for this is that the hulls you want for your boat will depend on what you will use the boat for. If you are ...

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...he x-axis.
Finally you will analyze the graphs you made by telling about the relationship between buoyancy and volume of the different boat hulls.
In the end, this experiment should have taught you how the different shapes of boat hulls effect how well your boat will be stable out on the water. The results from the experiment also have shown you that certain boat hull styles can support more weight than others. Another important finding was how weight distribution was a major factor because it can mean the difference between keeping your boat afloat or tipping over and capsizing. Now you know how a boat’s hull style affects how it floats.

Works Cited

http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/Aero_p020.shtml#procedure
http://www.teachengineering.org/view_lesson.php?url=collection/duk_/lessons/duk_float_mary_less/duk_float_mary_less.xml

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