floating

Floating is the condition in which an object or substance remains at the surface of a liquid or within a gas, rather than sinking or settling. It results from buoyancy, governed by density contrasts and gravity. Archimedes’ principle states that the buoyant force on a submerged object equals the weight of the displaced fluid. If the object's average density is less than the surrounding fluid, it experiences a net upward force and floats; if it is denser, it sinks; if densities are equal, it is neutrally buoyant.

In fluids such as water, floating is exploited by ships and boats whose hulls displace enough water to balance weight. The shape, size, and mass distribution affect stability and draft. Ballast tanks and adjustable ballast control buoyancy to rise, sink, or maintain depth. Surface tension can also influence very small objects at a liquid’s surface.

Floating can also occur in air. Lighter‑than‑air craft, such as balloons and airships, rise because the gas inside is less dense than ambient air. Heated air or lighter gases produce buoyant lift that keeps these craft aloft.

In computing, floating-point numbers represent real values with a mantissa and exponent, allowing a wide range of magnitudes. The IEEE 754 standard defines formats such as binary32 and binary64, including rules for rounding, overflow, underflow, and special values such as NaN and infinities. Floating‑point arithmetic provides speed and range at the cost of precision and rounding error.

Applications of floating extend from navigation and oceanography to graphics, scientific computing, and embedded systems, where accurate handling of buoyancy or numeric representation is essential.