Submarine Essay

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Have you ever questioned how a submarine can float or sink? Well submarines can sink, but also using positive and negative buoyancy. Submarines can typically travel 1,000 to 1,500 feet underwater. A submarine is considered a boat and not a ship due to the fact that a ship cannot be carried by another while a boat can be carried by a ship.
“ Submarines are ingenious bits of engineering designed to carry people safely through this very harsh environment. Although they were originally invented as military machines, and most large subs are still built for the world's navies, a few smaller subs do work as scientific research vessels.” (http://www.explainthatstuff.com/submarines.html) The way a submarine can float is “the ballast tanks are mostly filled with air, just a small amount sits in the bottom.” (Swanson,Jennifer 2011) The way a submarine sinks is “the tanks open, electric pumps force air into the tanks, pushing the water out the open holes.” (Swanson,Jennifer 2011)
The first type of submarine was built in 1620. “Englishman Cornelis Drebbel (1572–1633) builds the first submarine by waterproofing a wooden, egg-shaped boat with leather and coating the whole thing in wax. Scientists are uncertain whether Drebbel's boat ever set sail.” (http://www.explainthatstuff.com/submarines.html) It was built …show more content…

“Just as sharks have fins on their bodies to help them swim and dive, so submarines have fins called diving planes or hydroplanes. They work a bit like the wings and control surfaces (swiveling flaps) on an airplane, creating an upward force called lift.” (http://www.explainthatstuff.com/submarines.html) “as the submarine's propellers push it forward, water rushes over the planes, creating an upward force called lift that helps it remain at a certain depth, creating a state of neutral buoyancy (floating).”

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