Center of Buoyancy and Its Application For complete dummies when it comes to Buoyancy , What is Center of Bouyancy ?
How is it used in problem solving ?
 A: The center of buoyancy is the location within a solid object, submerged within a liquid where the sum of all pressure forces resolve in a direction opposite to the direction of gravity. For a homogeneous solid object, the center of buoyancy coincides with the center of gravity. But for solid objects where mass is distributed unevenly the center of gravity and center of buoyancy may differ. And in this latter case the separation of centers can create a moment (torque) that will tend to rotate the center of buoyancy directly above the center of gravity (restoring moment).
The concept of the center of buoyancy, as well as the center of gravity is an important concept for naval architects and engineers to understand to provide stable operation of both surface vessels and submersibles.
And an interesting fact in surface vessel design is, for an upright ship in the water, the center of buoyancy is more often designed to occur below, not above the vessel's center of gravity. This is to allow more maneuverability in the ship. As a ship rolls in one direction or another, the increase in water plane shifts the center of buoyancy creating an upward restoring moment. Designing the center of gravity below the center of buoyancy leads to what's called a bottom heavy vessel. And these are difficult to maneuver with forward velocity. Barges are bottom heavy vessels.
