Halliday, Resnick & Walker — Fluids: Problem Problem_76

Suppose that your body has a uniform density of 0.95 times that of water. (a) If you float in a swimming pool, what fraction of your body’s volume is above the water surface? Quicksand is a fluid produced when water is forced up into sand, moving the sand grains away from one another so they are no longer locked together by friction. Pools of quicksand can form when water drains underground from hills into valleys where there are sand pockets. (b) If you float in a deep pool of quicksand that has a density 1.6 times that of water, what fraction of your body’s volume is above the quicksand surface? (c) Are you unable to breathe?