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Why an iron needle sinks in water, but a...

Why an iron needle sinks in water, but an iron ship floats in water?

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For floatation, `Vrho_(b)=V_("in")P_(L)` where, V is volume of material of the body and volume of displaced liquid, Hollow bodies can displace liquid whose volume is much larger than the volume of the matter of the body, for example, a hollow box, a ship etc.
Due to this reason, though the density of iron is much lager than that of water, `V_("in")` will compensate for that and makes sure that the ship floats, whereas in the case of a solid body such as needle this is not possible and so, the needle sinks in water.
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