Once the metacenter points below its center of gravity, the boat will tip over. The lower that intersection is, the closer the boat is to tipping over. It's almost as if the water is trying to lift the boat out of the water, and the farther out the water pushes, the more likely it seems the boat will tip.Īs you can see in the diagram, the center of gravity and the center of buoyancy intersect at what's called the metacenter. If the boat tips to the right, its center of buoyancy shifts to the right also - the water is pushing up on the boat's right side instead of its middle. That may not be the case in a houseboat, which may rest upon a raft - the center of gravity is therefore higher than the center of buoyancy.
A regular sailboat has a center of gravity that's lower than its center of buoyancy, which helps keep the boat upright. The center of gravity is the force that pulls the boat down toward the water, while the center of buoyancy is the force that pushes back on the boat. Of course, unlike the land, you have to account for waves in the water, which will move a boat around significantly.Ī boat has two centers: a center of gravity and a center of buoyancy. That's how a boat stays afloat, but the way in which it stays upright is a different matter. People typically build houseboats out of either fiberglass or wood, because they're light and will float easily.
If the object is too heavy or dense, it will sink below the waterline. When the pressure of a body of water is equal to the weight of an object, that object will remain buoyant and float on the water.
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