equation for floating?

[ketchupkid]

hi,

is there any way of calculating how long something will take to float to the surface of the sea if you know roughly the size and weight of the object and the depth of the ocean?

thanks

[jake-the-peg]

Yup, the weight of water that would occupy the object's volume is the upward force on it - subtract the objects actual weight and you have the net upward force on it.

Divide this by the mass and you'll get the acceleration with which it heads to the surface.

However - Water is very dense and the object will quickly reach it's terminal velocity upwards and that depends a lot on it's shape as well as it's size , you've also got to take into consideration any upwards or downwards currents in the particular part of the ocean.

So in principal yes but in practice you'd need to know a few other things as well

[jake-the-peg]

PS - generally a few blocks of concrete round the ankles does the trick