A trough contains a completely immersed object. On accelerating the container upwards, which direction will the object move to?

Asked Mar 05 '20 at 16:16

Active Mar 05 '20 at 16:16

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While thinking intuitively, it seems quite obvious that the object displaces itself in the downward direction. But, will there be a case where the buoyant force dominates over it's own weight which may cause the ball to rise?

(No information about the densities/masses of any object is given)

asked Mar 05 '20 at 16:16

ckapoor7

https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/86774/why-does-a-helium-filled-balloon-move-forward-in-a-car-when-the-car-is-accelerat – BowlOfRed Mar 05 '20 at 16:24
Oh yes! So what I can glean from this answer is that the object will in fact always go downwards? Also, is there any rigorous way to actually prove it (ie- with force equations)? I'm unfamiliar with Lagrangian minimization, and cannot understand what the second part of the answer meant. – ckapoor7 Mar 06 '20 at 11:41

A trough contains a completely immersed object. On accelerating the container upwards, which direction will the object move to?

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