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If your body has a density of 995 kg/m³, what fraction of you will be submerged when floating gently in freshwater?

A. 1/9
B. 2/9
C. 3/9
D. 4/9

User Chopper
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1 Answer

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Final answer:

The fraction of a body submerged in freshwater with a density of 995 kg/m³ will be approximately 99.5%, while in salt water with a density of 1027 kg/m³, it will be about 96.9%.

Step-by-step explanation:

Understanding Buoyancy and Density

When an object floats in a fluid, the fraction of the object that is submerged is determined by the object's density relative to the fluid's density. This relationship can be described by Archimedes' Principle, which states that the buoyant force on an object in a fluid is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object. Based on this principle, if your body has a density of 995 kg/m³ and you are floating in freshwater, which has a density of 1000 kg/m³, the fraction of your body that would be submerged is 995/1000 or 0.995, which simplifies to approximately 99.5% submerged.

For salt water with a density of 1027 kg/m³, the same calculation applies. Here, the fraction would be 995/1027, which simplifies to approximately 96.9% submerged. This demonstrates that you would be less submerged in salt water than in freshwater because salt water is denser and provides more buoyancy.

User Nick Becker
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