A ship floats because of the buoyant force on it. A typical ship is composed of steel, a...

A ship floats because of the buoyant force on it. A typical ship is composed of steel, and we see from Table 10.1 that the density of steel is much greater than the density of water. How can the buoyant force support a steel ship?

(a) Real ships are made from special low-density metals.

(b) A ship will float if its average density (including both the steel and the air inside) is less than the density of water.

(c) A ship floats because it is watertight and does not leak.

(reference table 10.1)