Is it correct to say that a submarine floats if it is below the water surface?
According to the dictionary definition, it seems to me that this is a correct way to refer to a submerged submarine.
Merriam Webster – float: to rest on the surface of or be suspended in a fluid.
Oxford – float: Be suspended freely in a liquid or gas.
Oxford – float: Move or hover slowly and lightly in a liquid or the air.
The way I understand it, in a liquid or fluid means within the medium, not on the surface.
Is this the proper meaning?
Best Answer
Objects under water can float, rise or sink.
This is a Galileo-type thermometer:
Depending on the temperature of the fluid in which the sealed glass fluid containing sealed bubbles are suberged, they will either rise, sink, or float at certain levels. Per Wikipedia:
So, yes, a submarine floats at a certain depth in the ocean. If it is to surface, it rises, or it sinks to a lower depth. It works on Archimedes' principle: