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Battleship float (Not for physicists)

Battleship float (Not for physicists)

Posers and Puzzles

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What is the minimum amount of water needed to float a battleship? Lets say with a displacement of 10,000 tons.

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None. You could float it in Cesium.

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OK
What is the minimum amount of water needed to float a battleship in water? Lets say with a displacement of 10,000 tons.

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this is going to be horrible, but I just can't resist:
10,001 tonnes.

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Originally posted by doodinthemood
this is going to be horrible, but I just can't resist:
10,001 tonnes.
Doesn't it depend on the size of the container? By this i mean, take a sea that is 100 miles in diameter, the amount of water would be massively greater that if the sea was 50 miles in diameter...

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You're getting there ...

I did not specify the size of the container (so it can be as small as you like). Just want to know the minimum amount of water required.

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a drop of water. If your thing is very VERY small and there's no way for that water to get out.

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Originally posted by doodinthemood
a drop of water. If your thing is very VERY small and there's no way for that water to get out.
precisely correct. Calculate the area of 1 molecular layer of water and put the battleship into a container of the exact shape as the battleship that is 1 water molecule breadth larger. the exact dimensions aren't the point, the point is that it's the container that counts.

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10/10 :-)

The usually quoted answer is an egg-cup's worth but I suspect it could be less than that.

Be cool to see it demonstrated!