Is it possible for an object to have a higher buoyancy on one side than the other side? For example could one side of the object have a high buoyancy while the other side has a low buoyancy?
I'm asking this because I have a bouncy ball full of liquid that has an object floating in it where one side is always floating on top. The only way I can figure out how it works is that one side has a higher buoyancy than the other which forces that side to always float on top.
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$\begingroup$ A more likely explanation is that the floating object is asymmetrical and has its cm below the water surface. Floating on the other side would be an unstable equilibrium. $\endgroup$– Lewis MillerCommented Jan 3, 2017 at 3:01
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1 Answer
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Buoyancy is a number. Specifically, it is the difference between the volume of an object, times the density of water (or seawater, or whatever fluid is being considered for flotation) and the mass (weight) of that object.
So, unless the hypothetical ball has a division in order to allow it to be measured both as a single object, and as a pair of objects, there is no clear meaning to 'different buoyancies'. Only a VOLUME measurement can be identified with buoyancy, not a side or other surface, and not an orientation or any kind of direction.
