Why does oil float on top of water?
Liquids of different densities (that dont become a solution) separate into layers…Density is measured in kg/m³ meaning….kilogrammes per cubic metre.Pure waters density is 1000kg/m³…therefore one cubic metre of pure water weighs one metric tonne. Oil is usually around the 800kg/m³ area (as there are many oils wich all have different densities) this means a cubic metre of this oil is 800 kg. Therefore the lighter less dense fluid floats to the top…Just like helium is lighter than air, a balloon full of helium would fly upwards, as oil does in water. hope this helps 😉 ps…for reference sea water is usually 1015kg/m³. Also, density of fluid affects bouyancy of an object…did you know if a ship moves from sea water to river water the ship will sink slightly. This is because to allow the ship to continue to float, the weight of the water displaced by the ship…must equal the weight of the ship. As density of fresh water is less than sea water, the ship has to sink a little furth
