A lost shipping container is found resting on the ocean floor and completely sub

Question

A lost shipping container is found resting on the ocean floor and completely submerged. The container is 5.90 m long, 2.20 m wide, and 2.40 m high. Salvage experts attach a spherical balloon to the top of the container and inflate it with air pumped down from the surface. When the balloon's radius is 1.40 m, the shipping container just begins to rise toward the surface. What is the mass of the container? Ignore the mass of the balloon and the air within it. Do not neglect the buoyant force exerted on the shipping container by the water. The density of seawater is 1025 kg/m³.

Explanation / Answer

Determine the total volume of water being displaced by the two objects,

Volume of the container:

V (container) = 5.90 x 2.20 x 2.40 = 31.152 m3

Volume of the balloon:

        V(balloon) = (4/3) ( ) (1.4)3 = 11.5 m3

Find total volume:

       V = V (container) + V(balloon)

= 42.65 m3

Mass is volume times the density

             Mass = ( 42.65 m3 )(1025 kg/m3) =43718.3 kg

Round off the result to 3 significant digits

            Mass = 4.37 x 104 kg

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