When a ship floats on water

According to Archimedes' Principle, any object partially or fully immersed in a fluid experiences an upward buoyant force equal to the weight of the fluid it displaces [1]. For a ship to float in equilibrium on the water's surface, the upward buoyant force must exactly balance the downward force of gravity acting on the ship's mass [t1][t6]. This equilibrium occurs when the weight of the water displaced is equal to the weight of the ship [1][t6]. Since weight is the product of mass and gravitational acceleration (W=mg), this implies that the mass of the water displaced is equal to the mass of the ship [t1][t5]. If the ship's mass were greater than the mass of the displaced water, it would sink; if it were less, the ship would be pushed further upward until the displaced mass matched its own [1][t1].

Sources

1. [1] Science ,Class VIII . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 5: Exploring Forces > A step further > p. 76