Buoyancy Glossary

Buoyancy – this is force that pushes upward on an object when in a liquid (air can be considered a liquid when looking at forces on an object)

Gravity Force - this is the force that pushes downward on an object (this happens when you are ob or near an object that has sufficient mass, think about the earth it is heavy enough and spinning fast enough to generate a gravity force and keep everything that is on its surface on it).

Positive Buoyancy – this is when an object has a buoyant force that pushes the object to the top of the liquid

Neutral Buoyancy – this is when an object has a buoyant force that matches the gravitational force and the object floats inside the liquid

Negative Buoyancy – this is when an object has a buoyant force the is less than the gravitational force and the object sinks to the bottom of the liquid

Density – this is how many molecules or atoms of an object fill a specific amount of space

Molecules or atoms – are the microscopic materials that make up an object

Lattice – a regular three-dimensional arrangement of atoms or molecules in a solid