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How to Make a Boat That Floats at 100 Grams

When you need to float a 100-gm weight, you have to build a boat capable of supporting that weight. Before you build that boat, though, you have to find out the minimum size boat it takes to float 100 gm. Since buoyancy is based on how many cubic feet of water a weight displaces, you must first calculate the smallest size boat hull that can float 100 gm. Then, you must build a boat larger than that size.

Things You'll Need

Balsa wood
Razor knife
Adhesive marine caulk

Instructions

- 1
  Divide 100, the weight you wish to float, by 28,316.847, the weight in grams of 1 cubic foot of water. The result, 0.00353 equals the percentage of 1 cubic foot that the hull's volume must exceed to float.
- 2
  Multiply 0.00353 by 144, the number of cubic inches in a cubic foot. The result, 0.50832, is the volume, in cubic inches, that must be exceeded to float 100 gm.
- 3
  Cut three pieces of balsa wood 3 inches long and 1 inch wide, using a razor knife. Cut two pieces of balsa wood 1 inch wide.
- 4
  Apply adhesive marine caulk to all of the edges of one 3-inch piece of balsa. Press the long edges of the remaining two 3-inch pieces of balsa into the adhesive marine caulk on the long edges of the first piece.
- 5
  Apply adhesive marine caulk to the four short edges of the two 3-inch pieces of balsa. Press the 1-inch pieces of balsa into the caulk on the two short ends of the 3-inch pieces of caulk. Allow the adhesive marine caulk to cure for 24 hours.

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