The Upside-Down Boat Trick: Does It Work?

In the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, Captain Jack Sparrow and Will Turner use a boat turned upside down to create an air pocket, allowing them to breathe and walk along the sea floor. This has sparked curiosity about whether this trick would work in real life. While it is possible to trap air and breathe for a short time, the main challenge is buoyancy. A boat full of air floats well, and adding the weight of one or two people would not be enough to keep it underwater.

Mythbusters tested the upside-down boat trick

In an episode of MythBusters, the hosts, Jamie and Adam, tested the upside-down boat trick under Pirates of the Caribbean circumstances. In the movie, Captain Jack Sparrow and Will Turner use a rowboat as a makeshift submarine by walking along the ocean floor with the rowboat over their heads, trapping air inside the boat and using it to breathe.

Jamie and Adam tried to replicate this by walking into a pool with an upside-down rowboat over their heads. However, they found that their bodies were too buoyant, and they were unable to pull the rowboat to the bottom of the pool. They then loaded themselves with over sixty pounds of pirate gear and tried again, but with similar results.

Next, they tried weighing the boat down with five hundred pounds of weights, but it still wasn't enough to keep the rowboat under the surface. They calculated that it would take more than two thousand pounds of force to keep the rowboat and the air pocket underwater, making the myth impractical, if not impossible.

To demonstrate how the scene in the movie was achieved, they showed that it could be done with special effects and clever editing. They also suggested that drilling holes in the boat would allow someone to walk with the boat underwater.

It's possible to trap air and breathe it for a short while

It is possible to trap air and breathe it for a short while if you flip a boat upside down underwater. However, the main issue with this scenario is buoyancy. A boat full of air floats well enough on the water surface due to its buoyancy, and it would require a significant amount of force to submerge it.

In the movie Pirates of the Caribbean, Captain Jack Sparrow and Will Turner use a row boat underwater as a makeshift submarine, walking along the bottom of the sea with the boat providing air for them to breathe. To test whether this was possible, MythBusters tried to recreate this scene. They found that while a pocket of air would indeed stay inside the boat, the boat would not stay underwater. The additional air increased the boat's buoyancy, causing it to float to the surface. Even with weights attached, two people were not strong enough to keep the boat submerged.

In a similar experiment, a group of students performed the same test and found that while the inverted boat still floated, they were able to trap air and breathe it for a short time. This outcome is also supported by an account of a man who survived for two days in an air pocket inside a sunken ship in 2013.

Therefore, while it is possible to trap air and breathe it for a short while when flipping a boat upside down underwater, the boat's buoyancy will likely cause it to float to the surface, making it challenging to keep it submerged.

The issue is buoyancy

The buoyancy of an object is determined by whether it is less or more dense than water. Less dense objects float, while denser ones sink. The amount of air inside an upside-down boat will make it buoyant, and it will want to float to the surface. This is why, in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean, Captain Jack Sparrow and Will Turner are seen walking along the sea bed with an upturned boat over their heads. This is not possible in reality.

The Mythbusters tested this theory and found that while a pocket of air is created, the boat still floats and is impossible to keep underwater. Even with added weights, the boat is too buoyant to walk along the sea bed. The air pocket increases the buoyancy of the boat, making it want to rise to the surface.

It is possible to trap air and breathe it for a short while, but the boat will not stay below the surface. The boat will float and, even with added weight, is difficult to keep underwater.

It is possible to create a levitating layer of liquid through vibration. This is a dynamic effect, with the vibrations acting as a stabilizing force to keep the liquid balanced. This is similar to the effect of vibration on an upside-down pendulum, which will stay balanced in an inverted position when vibrated vertically.

In theory, this could be applied to a boat, with enough vibration potentially keeping it stable underwater. However, in practice, it is difficult to attain a fast-enough vibration speed to make this work.

Drilling holes in the boat can make it work

Drilling holes in the boat can make the upside-down boat trick work. This is because the air wants to escape, so there is some pressure pushing up on the glass. The boat will still float, but drilling holes in it will allow it to fill with water and sink.

In the movie Pirates of the Caribbean, Captain Jack Sparrow and Will Turner use a row boat underwater as a makeshift submarine. They enter deeper water, and the air pocket in the boat provides them with air to breathe. However, this scenario is not entirely realistic, as the air pocket would cause the boat to become more buoyant and float to the surface.

To test this theory, MythBusters tried to recreate the scene from the movie. They found that while an air pocket is indeed created when the boat is flipped upside down, it is not possible for two people to keep the boat underwater due to its buoyancy. They then demonstrated that drilling holes in the boat allowed them to walk underwater with the boat.

Drilling holes in the boat allows water to enter and reduces the buoyancy of the vessel. This means that it will no longer float to the surface and can be used to walk underwater, as seen in the movie. However, it is important to note that this trick may not work for smaller boats, as they would not have enough air to breathe for more than a few minutes.

It's possible to sink a boat with enough weight

It is possible to sink a boat with enough weight. In fact, MythBusters tested this theory and found that it took 2000 lbs of weight to sink a row boat. They also discovered that even with additional weight, such as 'pirate' gear, the boat would still float to the surface due to the air pocket inside, which increased buoyancy.

The amount of weight required to sink a boat will depend on the size and material of the boat, as well as the density of the water it is in. A denser boat will require more weight to sink, while a boat with more air pockets will be easier to sink.

Additionally, the shape of the boat can impact its buoyancy. For example, a boat with a flat bottom will have more surface area in contact with the water, which can increase the amount of weight needed to sink it. Similarly, a boat with a V-shaped hull may be more difficult to sink as the shape can help to deflect the water and reduce the overall drag.

Furthermore, the density of the water will also play a role. Saltwater, for example, is denser than freshwater, which means that a boat will float more easily in the sea than in a lake. So, while it is possible to sink a boat with enough weight, the specific requirements will vary depending on a variety of factors.

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