Why a small nail sinks in a sea and a large ship floats?

Question

anonymous · Answer

because a nail is more dense than water while a large ship is made such that its density is less than that of water.
a substance floats on a liquid if it is less dense than the liquid and vice-versa

jfraser · Answer

if you "squeezed out" all the air from a large ship, and made it into the shape of a giant nail, it would most certainly sink. The air inside the ship is what keeps it afloat.

anonymous · Answer

There is another way to look at his problem apart from what Rohit and JFraser told. If you know that pressure=force/area, you can argue that a nail having a small area would put a large amount of pressure on the water.hence it sinks while a ship having a large area would exert a low pressure since pressure is inversely proportional to area, hence keeping it afloat.