If you threw a bike in a river...

Daemos

...would it sink to the bottom and stay there, or float and keep going all the way to the sea or until it washed up?

Was debating this earlier today, myself and a friend of mine said it'd sink, but his girlfriend and another friend insisted it would float.

Since I have no experience in throwing bikes into rivers :rolleyes: can anyone shed some wisdom on things?

SarahBeep!

Sink and rust!! Plenty of them lining the bottom of the Shannon

df1985

I dont know,just dont throw a bike in a river.

strokemyclover

It'd come back home to you after a few days - it's kinda like a dog

-Trek-

Give me 10 minutes, i'll try it and see what happens ..... and i'll get back to you.

alwaysadub

I've seen plenty of bikes at the bottom of rivers,so they sink. How long they take to sink though, i don't know.

Duggy747

Well, once I had to dispose of this cyclist I once ran ov...................

















nevermind

CreepingDeath

Daemos wrote: »

...would it sink to the bottom and stay there, or float and keep going all the way to the sea or until it washed up?

Ask archimedes.

Bikes are heavy and displace very little water.
Go figure the rest yourself.

TheZohanS

Daemos wrote: »

If you threw a bike in a river...?

Are you married to her or just dating?

squod

depends if the bike floats or not.

brianthebard

what reasoning did these people give for the bikes floating???

Cheap Thrills!

Bikes are made of metal so it'd sink.

Also think about it.....have you ever seen a floating bike?

Crasp

how could anyone think that ~35lbs of metal would float?

starlit

It depends how deep or shallow the river is, the deeper it is the likely it will sink the more shallow it is its likely to float! Could depend on the weight of the bike too but don't think it would matter really so it could either float or sink regardless of weight. That's my theory anyway.

smellslikeshoes

I'm guessing it could depending on what type of tires were on it and if they were inflated.

Mrmoe

It would sink unless you had one of these

Water bike

Biggins

Couple of factors.

* Whats the size of the tyres and whats the air pressure within them?
* Is there a continuous or occasionally frequent undercurrent within this dumping area?
* Whats the speed of the water current on top and below?
* What the weights and density of the metal parts of the bike - combined and separate?
I could go on.

Generally I would say, firstly that it would sink most of the time if its a standard average bike.
If there is an undercurrent, eventually between rust breakdown of parts, components over a long (perhaps very long) period of time, they would together or separately be washed further down stream - either on the top water surface or as an additional below water wash item.

-Trek-

Trekmad wrote: »

Give me 10 minutes, i'll try it and see what happens ..... and i'll get back to you.

No, its sinks ..... damn, how am I going to get that out now?

Biggins

Trekmad wrote: »

No, its sinks ..... damn, how am I going to get that out now?

Call "The Citizen". :cool:

FTGFOP

What's the frame made of?

rcaz

snuggles285 wrote: »

It depends how deep or shallow the river is, the deeper it is the likely it will sink the more shallow it is its likely to float! Could depend on the weight of the bike too but don't think it would matter really so it could either float or sink regardless of weight. That's my theory anyway.

wtf?

The Floyd p

his girfriend is an idiot.

starlit

El Pr0n wrote: »

wtf?

Did I get it mixed up? bike sinks if river is shallow or bike floats if river is deep? Think this might be a blonde moment yet I'm a brunette!

Liam Byrne

smellslikeshoes wrote: »

I'm guessing it could depending on what type of tires were on it and if they were inflated.

Damn! Beat me to it!

IM0

All bikes are not created equal or heavy, if its a CF bike it has a good chance of floating :cool:

EvilMonkey

Crasp wrote: »

how could anyone think that ~35lbs of metal would float?

A ship floats, how many lbs of metal are they?

Super-Rush

:pac: at thread.

Biggins

EvilMonkey wrote: »

A ship floats, how many lbs of metal are they?

The Buoyancy Principle
Archimedes continued to do more experiments and came up with a buoyancy principle, that a ship will float when the weight of the water it displaces equals the weight of the ship and anything will float if it is shaped to displace its own weight of water before it reaches the point where it will submerge.Archimedes continued to do more experiments and came up with buoyancy a ship will float when the weight of the water it displaces equals the weight of the ship and anything will float if it is shaped to displace its own weight of water before it reaches the point where it will submerge.
This is kind of a technical way of looking at it. A ship that is launched sinks into the sea until the weight of the water it displaces is equal to its own weight. As the ship is loaded, it sinks deeper, displacing more water, and so the magnitude of the buoyant force continuously matches the weight of the ship and its cargo.
The Metacenter
Archimedes figured out that the metacenter had to be determined which is a point where an imaginary vertical line (through the center of buoyancy) intersects another imaginary vertical line (through a new centre of buoyancy) created after the ship is displaced, or tilted, in the water.
The center of buoyancy in a floating ship is the point in which all the body parts exactly balance each other and make each other float. In other words, the metacenter remains directly above the center of buoyancy regardless of the tilt of the floating ship. When a ship tilts, one side displaces more water than the other side, and the center of buoyancy moves and is no longer directly under the center of gravity; but regardless of the amount of the tilt, the center of buoyancy remains directly below the metacenter. If the metacenter is above the center of gravity, buoyancy restores stability when the ship tilts. If the metacenter is below the center of gravity, the boat is unstable and capsizes.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_does_a_ship_float

So there you have it. Apply the above same principles to your bike and there's your answer.

Easy piesy!

/thread. Next... :pac:

Crasp

EvilMonkey wrote: »

A ship floats, how many lbs of metal are they?

in what way does the form of a ship resemble a bicycle? a ship displaces water, a bike just slices through it...

rcaz

snuggles285 wrote: »

Did I get it mixed up? bike sinks if river is shallow or bike floats if river is deep? Think this might be a blonde moment yet I'm a brunette!

Er, the size of the river is inconsequential to the question. Archimedes' Principle says the upthrust on a body in water is equal in magnitude to the weight of the water displaced by the body. A bike displaces very little water, and relatively very heavy, the upthrust from the water wouldn't be enough to float the bike.

Now you have to consider the air in the tyres, but I'd imagine this is almost negligible...

Hail 2 Da Thief

Bicycle frames are hollow & water would ingress at some location on the frame to sink it.

rcaz

Crasp wrote: »

in what way does the form of a ship resemble a bicycle?

Your first post was a little over-simplified, though.

starlit

so half of the bike in and the other half of the bike out?

rcaz

Hail 2 Da Thief wrote: »

Bicycle frames are hollow & water would ingress at some location on the frame to sink it.

That wouldn't be a deciding factor in the question, the frame would sink before then, and the volume inside the frame wouldn't even be that much.

Crasp

El Pr0n wrote: »

Your first post was a little over-simplified, though.

was there any need to over-complicate it?

Crasp

Hail 2 Da Thief wrote: »

Bicycle frames are hollow & water would ingress at some location on the frame to sink it.

they usually have little breather holds somewhere in the frame to allow for gas expansion during the welding process. at least I assume that's what those little holes are for...

starlit

May think that a video or youtube demo might be in order!

rcaz

Crasp wrote: »

was there any need to over-complicate it?

Because I had the right answer?

Crasp wrote: »

they usually have little breather holds somewhere in the frame to allow for gas expansion during the welding process. at least I assume that's what those little holes are for...

There are holes in the down tube for screwing on bottle cages.

Johro

Fascinating stuff... I may have to stay up. Unlike the bike.

Crasp

El Pr0n wrote: »

Because I had the right answer?



There are holes in the down tube for screwing on bottle cages.

depends on the bike! (if I may be pedantic).

starbelgrade

It all depends upon how thick the water is. If it's very watery, the bike will sink.

Sheeps

why cant u cycle on water if there is air in the tyres????

Sheeps

there is a plane on a thread mill does it take off?

Cianos

Sheeps wrote: »

there is a plane on a thread mill does it take off?

Yes, interestingly enough.

Rockn

If you tie a rock onto her she won't float.

fonecrusher1

super-rush wrote: »

:pac: at thread.

What? you want to eat the thread?!

kumate_champ07

Daemos wrote: »

...would it sink to the bottom and stay there, or float and keep going all the way to the sea or until it washed up?

Was debating this earlier today, myself and a friend of mine said it'd sink, but his girlfriend and another friend insisted it would float.

Since I have no experience in throwing bikes into rivers :rolleyes: can anyone shed some wisdom on things?

seriously?
have you ever seen anyone cycling along a river? do you not think if bikes could float people would actually use them for water travel?

Jose Jones

not a chance of re-cycling if it's been in a river.

Lumen

snuggles285 wrote: »

Think this might be a blonde moment yet I'm a brunette!

El Pr0n wrote: »

upthrust

:pac:

Liam Byrne

Daemos wrote: »

...would it sink to the bottom and stay there, or float and keep going all the way to the sea or until it washed up?

Was debating this earlier today, myself and a friend of mine said it'd sink, but his girlfriend and another friend insisted it would float.

I've copped why they got confused! They got it all backwards!

You see, the tide comes in on 25-hour cycles.....

cdaly_

Look, it's all very simple. If the bike floats it's a witch. If it sinks it's not a witch.



None of your fancy schmancy physics thank you...