Explain how a normal body which sinks in water could be made to float?

Answer 1

A normal body that sinks in water can be made to float by increasing its buoyancy. This can be achieved by either increasing the volume of the body (such as by attaching a flotation device), decreasing its density (by hollowing out the body or adding air pockets), or a combination of both. By increasing the volume or decreasing the density of the body, the buoyant force acting on the body will be greater than its weight, causing it to float.

Answer 2

To begin with, if we are speaking of a human body, most human bodies (especially in the US) are well fed enough, that they have sufficient fat stores such that they will foat in water. Thus, to consider a "normal body" which "sinks in water" it means that this particular body is (overall) more dense than the water. For this to happen, we must be talking about a human body which has very little fat (perhaps a long distance runner, a sikly malnurished person, or a body builder - all three body styles having a greater percentage than normal of muscle, bone and/or connective tissue versus the percentage of fat). Such a person could simply breath in deeply, thereby expanding the lungs and creating a larger volume of the body, but adding essentially no weight (i.e. making one's body "less dense"), and, in turn, allowing for the body to float - or more scientifically speaking, become bouyant. This is all simple physics and related to overall density of the material of the body; a weight versus volume relationship. If a body displaces more mass than a similar volume of water would, then it will sink when placed in water. If the body displaces less weight than a similar sized volume of water weighs, than it floats if placed into the water.

Answer 3

By increasing the body's volume and decreasing its density, it can be made to float. This can be achieved by attaching a flotation device, such as a life jacket or inflatable buoyancy aid, which displaces enough water to counteract the body's weight and make it buoyant.