Abstract
Sailboats, tugboats, barges, ocean liners, submarines are all different boats with different shapes. How does the shape of a boat's hull affect how easily it moves through the water? This project shows you how you can investigate this question using a homemade water trough and model boat hulls.Objective
The goal of this project is to investigate how the shape of a boat hull affects the drag force on the boat as it moves through the water.
Introduction
Have you ever been to a busy marina and looked at the shapes of the different types of boats moored there? Sometimes you can even find boats entirely out of the water, so that you can see the entire hull. You can see from the smooth lines of a sailboat how it is designed to slip through the water.
Sailboat hulls tend to be long and narrow, with a deep keel to keep the boat from tipping when sailing in a strong wind. They cut easily through the water. Their shape helps to reduce drag, or fluid friction, on the boat as it moves through the water. Dinghies and row boats, on the other hand, have flat bottoms for stability in the water (see Figure 1). When powered with a motor, the ride can be rough if there are waves, since the flat bottom tends to slap on top of the waves rather than cut through them.
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| Figure 1. Examples of hull designs for flat-bottomed boats (Zidock Jr., 1999). |
There are many different hull designs used for small boats. The best design for a particular boat depends on the purpose for the boat, for example fishing, sailing, water skiing, transportation, recreation. This project will help you get started on researching different types of boats. It will also show you how to build some boat models and test how easily each one moves through the water.
Terms, Concepts and Questions to Start Background Research
To do this project, you should do research that enables you to understand the following terms and concepts:
Questions
Bibliography
Materials and Equipment
To do this experiment you will need the following materials and equipment:
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Experimental Procedure
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Safety Note: Adult supervision is recommended when working with wood carving tools. |
Variations
Credits
Andrew Olson, Ph.D., Science Buddies
Sources
This project is based on:
Last edit date: 2006-12-08 11:00:00
If you like this project, you might enjoy exploring careers in Aerodynamics & Hydrodynamics.
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