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Our Surroundings 



heavy enough to displace an equal volume of water. A cubic 

 foot of iron, on the other hand, weighs 468 pounds and so will 

 sink. 



If, however, we rolled this cubic foot of iron into a thin metal 

 sheet and shaped it into an iron box 6 feet long, 4 feet wide and 

 1 foot high, we would have a box with a volume of 24 cubic 

 feet The iron would still weigh 468 pounds, but in order to 



ssru 



Underwood & Underwood. 



THE EUROPA, A GREAT OCEAN LINER 



On her maiden voyage the Europa covered the distance from France to New York, 

 approximately 3100 nautical miles, in 4 days, 17 hours, 6 minutes. She is driven 



by steam turbines. 



sink it would have to displace 24 cubic feet of water, which 

 weighs 1500 pounds. It would, therefore, float and support a 

 cargo of over 1000 pounds. Similarly, in a metal ship, the metal 

 is shaped into a hollow hull which weighs much less than an 

 equal volume of water. 



Ship designers are able to calculate to what point the vessel's 

 hull, or body, will sink in the water. That is the water line and 



