Why do dense things sink more?

why do dense things sink more?

The same way magnets work.

Gravity

how do magnets work?

that doesnt explain the reason why dense things sink and less dense things don't

i want to know how the behaviour of the particles in something dense make it sink vs a non-dense thing

Gravity has a stronger force on denser objects.

More mass -> More weight.
Less volumne -> Less surface for pressure to act upwards.

but why?

surely it cant be to do with weight though or ships wouldnt float.

Say you have an object with volume V, and we place it in water. The bouyant force the object will recieve, is directly proportional on how much mass of water the object pushes away, namely the volume V times the water's density.
If the gravitational force acting ont the object is smaller than the bouyant force, it floats. If they are equal - it's remains stationary. Similarily, if the bouyant force is lesser than the force of gravity, it sinks.

This is pretty basic classic mechanics. Please correct me if I am wrong somewhere.

ah i seeee

The way I like to think about it is in terms of energy. Things in nature tend toward lower energy states, the system will have less total potential energy if the denser objects are on bottom because that would place more of the mass nearer the source of gravity.

f=ma

see

A basketball can push past a group of tennis balls far more easily than tennis balls can push past basketballs.

Why doesn't the atmosphere work according to this? How can a mix of ~80% nitrogen and ~20% oxygen happen when they weigh different amounts and don't react with each other?

I'm gonna go with "gravity is pretty fucking weak".

Buoyancy my nigga.

If gravity is so weak then why is it the main driver for the thermohaline conveyor belt?

guys gtfo of this thread.

Ships float because they have air in them

Snide remarks aside, I'm really clueless about chemistry which I suppose is where the answer lies. I have no idea why some things mix and some don't.

Thats totally true

people really should stop answering old posts which have since been resolved.

They have a similar specific gravity.

There are other gasses that have different specific gravities that either sink below or float above a layer of oxygen, like carbon monoxide.

Force is proportional to mass, with is apparent from F=ma where m is mass and a is acceleration. Furthermore, Density is proportional to mass (vice-versa), as D=m/V where D is density, m is mass, and V is volume.
Re-write F=ma as F=DVa, and let Va be a constant. Therefore F is directly proportional to D. Btw you must be 18+ to post here