We normally see, that whenever a body is placed over a Liquid, either it sinks or floats on the Liquid.
The study of hydraulics is incomplete without the information on forces acting on water.
Here in this post, you will find information about the five important forces.

The body placed over the Liquid is subjected to the following two forces
01) Gravitational force
02) Upthrust of the Liquid
These two forces act opposite each other.
If the Gravitational Force is more than the Upthrust of the Liquid, the Body will sink down.
If the Gravitational Force is less than the Upthrust of the Liquid, the Body will float.
So, this will best understand the Archimedes Principle
Archimedes Principle
It states that “Whenever a body is immersed wholly or partially in a Fluid, it is lifted up by a force equal to a Weight of Fluid Displaced by the Body”.
So, here are the Important Forces in Equilibrium of Floating Body
Buoyancy
The tendency of a Fluid to uplift a submerged body, because of the upward thrust of the Fluid, is known as Buoyancy.
It is always equal to the Weight of Fluid Displaced by the Body.
If the Force of the Buoyancy is less than the Weight of the Body, it will sink down.
When the Force of the Buoyancy is more than the Weight of the Body, it will push up till the Weight of the Fluid Displaced is equal to the Weight of the Body.
Center of Buoyancy
It is the point, through which the force of the Buoyancy is supposed to act.
It is always the Center of Gravity of the Volume of the Liquid Displaced.
Metacenter
Whenever a body, floating in a Liquid, is given a small angular Displacement, it starts Oscillating at some point.
This point, about which the Body starts Oscillating, is known as the “Metacenter”.
Metacentric Height
The distance between the center of Gravity of a floating Body and the Metacenter is called “Metacentric Height”.
Hence more the Meta Centric Height of the Floating Body, the more it will be stable.
Besides this information, you are suggested to read something more from below engineering books
So, Here you find the Best Engineering Resources for further details
To get the more details about the topic, I further recommended reading
- A Textbook of Hydraulic Machines
- A Textbook of Hydraulics, Fluid Mechanics, and Hydraulic Mechanics
- Textbook of Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulic Machines
- A Textbook of Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulic Machines
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