Abstract
ABSTRACT Archimedes’ Law of Buoyancy describing the magnitude of the buoyancy force on a floating object is justly regarded as the beginning of the field of hydrostatics. But a postulate he attached to it about the line of action of the buoyancy force is equally important and is essential in determining equilibrium orientations of a floating body and the stability of those orientations. In proving the stability of certain orientations of a floating truncated sphere or paraboloid, he introduced a distance now recognized as the precursor of the righting arm of a floating body. This paper delves into this seminal concept and also brings Archimedes’ results up-to-date by finding all of the equilibrium orientations – both stable and unstable – for the two basic floating bodies he studied.
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