It states that the buoyancy force acting on a body freely floating or immersed in a fluid is equal to the mass of fluid displaced times the gravity acceleration. If the body is totally immersed in the fluid, the buoyancy force is equal to the volume of the body times the fluid density times the gravity acceleration. If the body is freely floating, the buoyancy force is the fluid displaced volume times the fluid density time the gravity acceleration. In other words, the buoyancy force is given by the equation


\begin{displaymath}\rho g \forall, \notag
\end{displaymath}  

where $\rho$ is the fluid density, $g$ is the gravity acceleration and $\forall$ is the volume of the part of the body which is immersed (volume of fluid displaced).

Timothy S Choe
2003-03-15