Would the boat sink?

[ahurtt]

So you have a boat that can carry 100 pounds of cargo. If you load it with any more than 100 pounds it will sink. You have a cargo container that weights lets say. . .10 pounds, and inside it is 91 pounds of live hummingbirds. There are a couple of tiny airholes in the top but other than that the container is solid. If you put the container on the boat but all the hummingbirds inside it were hovering in the air (not standing around on the bottom of the container) would it sink the boat?

*Obviously I used hummingbirds for this example since no other kind of bird can hover stationary in flight.

Would it make a difference if the walls of the container were permeable like screen or if they were solid?

 

[Canai]

I think the boat would fly through the air like a giant hummingbird. or maybe sink like a giant hummingbird. Or maybe float like a giant hummingbird.

 

[mugs]

Considering how little hummingbirds weigh that has to be a pretty big box, and if this big box fits on a boat I would have to wonder why that boat is only capable of holding 100 pounds of cargo.

That's over 13,000 hummingbirds

 

[Canai]

perhaps a better idea would be to tie said hummingbirds to the boat via their legs, then make them all fly, then you could put even more cargo on the boat!

 

[FoBoT]

so you know how many hummingbirds it would take to make 91 pounds?!? :Q

that is BULK HUMMINGBIRDS!

hummingbirds weigh about 3-4 grams

that is about 12,000 hummingbirds!!

 

[illusion88]

the floating objects aren't exerting any force on the boat. Infact, they are pulling the boat out of the water with the force of their gravity!! (mathmatically insignificant though).

 

[Ramma2]

If a hummingbird hovers above a scale, does it register on the scale?

Nope.

Does the boat sink?

Nope.

Is this lame?

Yep.

 

[VTHodge]

These threads are getting ridiculous.

 

[Canai]

Originally posted by: Ramma2
If a hummingbird hovers above a scale, does it register on the scale?

Nope.

Does the boat sink?

Nope.

Is this lame?

Yep.

it may register on the scale, depending on how sensitive the scale is (the downdraft would register I'm sure)

 

[jtvang125]

If they were hovering mid air how are they exerting any weight onto the boat? Just like if you're hovering over a weight scale, would the scale move?

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
so you know how many hummingbirds it would take to make 91 pounds?!? :Q

that is BULK HUMMINGBIRDS!

hummingbirds weigh about 3-4 grams

that is about 12,000 hummingbirds!!

That's bigger than an alternator!

 

[ahurtt]

Originally posted by: Ramma2
If a hummingbird hovers above a scale, does it register on the scale?

Nope.

Does the boat sink?

Nope.

Is this lame?

Yep.

I agree, but there is a coworker of mine I have to prove to that the boat wouldn't sink. This was a stupid lunch discussion we were having.

 

[Turin39789]

Originally posted by: Ramma2
If a hummingbird hovers above a scale, does it register on the scale?

Nope.

Does the boat sink?

Nope.

Is this lame?

Yep.

yea this is the old chickens on the back of a truck problem.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
that is BULK HUMMINGBIRDS!

So, is there some place online where I can buy bulk hummingbirds? You know, hummingbird clusters the size of an alternator?

 

[Canai]

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: FoBoT
that is BULK HUMMINGBIRDS!

So, is there some place online where I can buy bulk hummingbirds? You know, hummingbird clusters the size of an alternator?

Yes, but it is some assembly required.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: jtvang125
If they were hovering mid air how are they exerting any weight onto the boat? Just like if you're hovering over a weight scale, would the scale move?

I'm no expert on physics, but if the box was airtight I think it would sink. An enclosed system would weigh as much as its contents whether they're pushing against the bottom or floating in the middle. If you weigh a fish tank, the fish add to the weight of the tank even if they're not on the bottom.

But the tiny air holes poke holes in that theory because the air can flow freely into and out of the box, and the air is what is holding the birds up. It may be significant that the holes are at the top and not on the sides, but like I say I'm no expert in physics.

If the sides of the box were a screen, I think the boat would float for sure.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: FoBoT
that is BULK HUMMINGBIRDS!

So, is there some place online where I can buy bulk hummingbirds? You know, hummingbird clusters the size of an alternator?

alternator sized hummingbirds clusters are not bulk!

 

[NatePo717]

91 lbs of humming birds is a lot of fvcking birds. I wonder how much force their wings exert downwards? With all those birds flapping their wings they would most likely create some downward force one the boat. I don't think it would be enough to put it up over 100lbs though.

As long as they stay airborne the boat won't sink as they are suspended in mid air. It would be like holding a rock over a scale but not having the rock touch the scale. The scale will read zero until that rock is physically touching/exerting a force on the scale.

 

[ahurtt]

Originally posted by: illusion88
the floating objects aren't exerting any force on the boat. Infact, they are pulling the boat out of the water with the force of their gravity!! (mathmatically insignificant though).

Ok how about this. . .If you have an aquarium with 20 gallons of water in it, and then you put in a 2 pound fish, assuming the fish is alive and floats suspended in the water, not touching any sides, does the aquarium now weigh 2 pounds more?

 

[Canai]

Originally posted by: NatePo717
91 lbs of humming birds is a lot of fvcking birds. I wonder how much force their wings exert downwards? With all those birds flapping their wings they would most likely create some downward force one the boat. I don't think it would be enough to put it up over 100lbs though.

As long as they stay airborne the boat won't sink as they are suspended in mid air. It would be like holding a rock over a scale but not having the rock touch the scale. The scale will read zero until that rock is physically touching/exerting a force on the scale.

but the rock would not be exerting any downwards force (like the flapping of a hummingbird's wings) It's not like holding a rock over a scale, it's like holding a rock with a small rocket strapped to it over a scale and lighting the rocket, and teh rocket having just enough thrust to make the rock stay stationary.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: ahurtt
Ok how about this. . .If you have an aquarium with 20 gallons of water in it, and then you put in a 2 pound fish, assuming the fish is alive and floats suspended in the water, not touching any sides, does the aquarium now weigh 2 pounds more?

[*]Aquarium: container + water + fish all stay there.
[*]Box: container and birds stay there, air comes out.

Those aren't the same comparison. If they were the same comparison, a flock of pelicans flying over the boat could sink it too.

 

[FoBoT]

what kind of fish?

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: NatePo717
91 lbs of humming birds is a lot of fvcking birds. I wonder how much force their wings exert downwards? With all those birds flapping their wings they would most likely create some downward force one the boat. I don't think it would be enough to put it up over 100lbs though.

As long as they stay airborne the boat won't sink as they are suspended in mid air. It would be like holding a rock over a scale but not having the rock touch the scale. The scale will read zero until that rock is physically touching/exerting a force on the scale.

They're being pulled downward by 91 lbs of gravity, and they're hovering in mid-air. You do the math on how much force is required to keep them up.

 

[Xyo II]

This is the worst parody thread ever. It's even worse than the worst parody thread ever, which this is, because it's not really a parody thread. Even when the hummingbirds die from the lack of oxygen, as your couple of tiny air holes are not going to be nearly enough, or the ones near the top aren't able to fly because there's not enough air in the box to move around for 13000 hummingbirds to push down with, the boat still won't sink. It doesn't even matter if they're enclosed, with the logic you are following. The only cargo that has mass pushing down on the boat would be the container itself.

 

[jtvang125]

Originally posted by: ahurtt

Originally posted by: illusion88
the floating objects aren't exerting any force on the boat. Infact, they are pulling the boat out of the water with the force of their gravity!! (mathmatically insignificant though).

Ok how about this. . .If you have an aquarium with 20 gallons of water in it, and then you put in a 2 pound fish, assuming the fish is alive and floats suspended in the water, not touching any sides, does the aquarium now weigh 2 pounds more?

Consider that if the water displaced by the fish remained in the aquarium, then yes it would weight 2 pounds heavier.