Physics boat project report! PLEASE HELP ME?

Trey

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May 19, 2008
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Hi so I need to finish a report on our boat project that we had a day ago. How would I calculate the safety margin for my boats sides including waves and tilt expected and also the height of center of gravity of the person inside- Person inside weight: 160lbs Boat; Length is 3 ft 5 inches
boat height: 6 inches
and width 2 ft
 
I can see why he asked those questions.
a 3' x 2' boat will have serious stability problems.
 
A 2ft x 3.5ft boat is pushing it to carry an adult; the smallest boat I can think of is a coracle, which is a bit bigger than that.
If the centre of mass is above the centre of buoyancy, which it will be for that, the boat can only be conditionally stable. If, as the boat tilts, the centre of mass rises, then it will be conditionally stable. If it falls, it will be unstable. It is still possible to paddle a boat that is unstable about one axis, such as a performance kayak, but it requires constant movement kind of like riding a bicycle.

Handling waves is complex. Typically, the entire boat will rise and fall with the waves (ocean waves typically have a wavelength rather greater than 6 feet) so it is quite possible to negotiate 20ft waves in long-wavelength swell with only 6" of freeboard
 
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