Which statement describes Archimedes' Principle?

• A. The buoyant force is independent of the displaced fluid's weight.
• B. The buoyant force depends only on the shape of the object.
• C. The loss of weight of a submerged body equals the weight of the fluid displaced.
• D. The buoyant force is proportional to the submerged object's density.

Answer: (C)

Archimedes' principle says the buoyant force on a submerged body equals the weight of the fluid it displaces. That means the apparent loss of weight you feel when the object is underwater is exactly the weight of the fluid that has been pushed aside. In other words, the upward push is determined by how much fluid is moved and how heavy that fluid is, not by the object's own density or its shape alone. So the statement that the loss of weight of a submerged body equals the weight of the displaced fluid best captures this idea.