University of Central Florida (UCF) PSC1121 Physical Science Final Practice Exam

The buoyant force acting on a submerged object is explained by Archimedes' Principle. This principle states that when an object is immersed in a fluid, it experiences an upward force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object. This means that the amount of fluid displaced is directly related to the object's volume and the density of the fluid.

When an object is submerged, it pushes aside some of the fluid around it. The weight of the fluid that has been displaced generates an upward force on the object. If this buoyant force is greater than the weight of the object itself, the object will float. If the buoyant force is equal to the weight of the object, it will remain suspended in the fluid. If it is less, the object will sink.

Understandably, other principles do not address the concept of buoyancy in the same way. Torricelli's Principle relates to the speed of fluid flowing out of an orifice, Bernoulli's Principle explains the behavior of fluid flow related to pressure and velocity, while Pascal's Principle states that a change in pressure applied to an enclosed fluid is transmitted undiminished throughout the fluid. None of these principles directly describe the buoyant force experienced by submerged objects as effectively