Out in the real world

A boat, or any other object designed to float, is based on a theory by a very old guy, even older than Capt. Matt. Though he is old and, by the way, dead, he was really a cool guy and his name was Archimedes (Ark-i'-meed-eez). His principle, cleverly named the Archimedes' Principle, explains how things float. If you fill your bathtub with water, what happens when you get in? The water rises, right? (And sometimes goes over the side.) That is because you "displaced" some of the water with your body and it had to go somewhere. The key to floating is that the object must displace an amount of water which is equal to its own weight.

For example, suppose you had a block of wood that was 1 foot square. Let's say that this block of wood weighs about 50 pounds. Now say we lower that wood into the water. The wood will move down into the water until it has displaced 50 pounds of water. That means that fifty pounds of water are pushing back up on the block and making it float.

The principle of floating is pretty easy, however, if you want to remain inside the boat and actually get where you want to go, your boat must have "stability" as well as being able to float. Stability means that it is designed not to tip over easily. That doesn't mean it won't ever tip over.