Archimedes' Principle

A body in fluid feels an upward force equal to the weight of displaced fluid, deciding what floats or sinks.

Core Principles & Analysis

• Stated in On Floating Bodies around 250 BC, arguably the oldest quantitative law of physics still taught as written.
• The golden-crown legend comes from Vitruvius, writing two centuries after Archimedes.
• It governs ships, balloons, hydrometers, and the floating-body debates Galileo waged in Florence.

Specifications & Metrics

• SYMBOL: F_b = ρ·g·V