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Weight used to keep the boat stable in the water. Old seagoing vessels, such as pirate ships use to have ballast stone which was kept in the bottom of the boat down the middle(keel) to keep the boat sitting properly in the water. Modern submarines use saltwater in their ballast tanks(big huge tanks located inside the hull) to enable them to sink and remain submerged

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Q: What is the ballast on a boat?
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Related questions

How do you use ballast in a sentence?

The boat had two different types of ballast.


What is a good sentence for the word ballast?

A good sentence for the word ballast is.......The ballast is not heavy enough and the boat is about to sink.


Are there any commercial housing and boat rental on Ballast Island in Lake Erie?

No. Ballast Island is a privately owned island with a few homes on it. If you are looking for boat rental or housing look to Put In Bay. Ballast is only a few minute boat ride away, and although you won't be able to go on the island or dock there, you can at least see it. A word of warning, do not travel by boat between Ballast and Lost Ballast as there is a sand bar that claims at least one or two victims a year.


What is a ballast tank?

A ballast tank is one of several external or internal tanks fitted in submarines, which allow the boat to submerge when filled with water.


What is the function of the ballast tanks on a submarine?

To change the buoyancy of the boat and allow it to rise and sink in the water.


What are the different tanks on a boat called?

A) Fuel B)Water C)Holding D)ballast


How many ballast tanks are there in a submarine?

It depends entirely on the size of the boat, but 5 or 6 Main Ballast Tanks (port and starboard) and 4 or 5 Trim Tanks are the average.


How submarines floats on water surface and submerge into water?

Air is trapped in the ballast tanks which surround the boat. This makes it positively bouyant (why it floats). To submerge the boat the air is vented out of the tanks via the main ballast tank vents which are at the highest point in the tank. As the air escapes seawater comes into the tank through the flood grates located at the bottom of the main ballast tanks. This makes the boat heavier or negatively bouyant and causes it to sink. Once submerged then the crew adjusts the weight of the boat (called trimming the boat) so that it is as close to neutrally bouyant as possible.


What is a shoal draft ballast?

The draft of a boat determines minimum depth of water a ship can safely navigate. A shoal draft is a very shallow draft. In this case, shoal draft ballast is the sort of ballast that improves the stability of a shoal draft ship.


What changes take place in the ballast tanks when a submarine that has been under water rises to the surface?

The change that takes place in the ballast tank is the chief of the boat flips a switch and pumps the water out of them.


Why do submarines float if they weigh more than water?

The same reason all vessels made of steel float - they're full of air filled compartments which keeps them buoyant.While surfaced, a submarine's Main Ballast Tanks are also full of air. When the boat wishes to submerge, those tanks are emptied and filled rapidly with seawater. The boat's fixed ballast weight is a known variable, and variable ballast, in the form of water that can be pumped in or out of the boat, allows for adjustments in buoyancy control while submerged.


How big is ballast tank in submarine?

Submarine ballast tanks and their number depend entirely on the type of boat and its submerged displacement capacity. In general though, they're pretty big, on average about 6000 square feet or more.