NCERT Solutions for Class 4th The World Around Us Chapter 7 Floating and Sinking — In-text Questions
Book page 110 Updated on2026-09-19
Q1.
You can try this out at home. Make a paper boat and float it in a bowl. Observe whether your boat floats properly like in Picture 1 or flips like in Picture 2?
Answer
What to do
Fold a paper boat from an old newspaper sheet.
Fill a bowl with water and place the boat on the water very gently.
Watch it for a minute. See whether it stays upright or turns over on its side.
Picture 1 and Picture 2 show a paper boat put into a bowl of water.
What you will see:
A boat with a wide, flat bottom and equal sides floats upright, as in Picture 1.
A boat that is narrow or badly folded, or one that is pushed in from one side, tips over, as in Picture 2.
After some time the paper soaks up water, becomes soft, and the boat slowly sinks.
Sample answer: My first boat floated properly like Picture 1. When I made a second boat with thin paper, it leaned to one side and flipped over like Picture 2.
Why it happens: A boat stays upright when its two sides are the same and its bottom is wide. If one side is heavier, the boat leans over and flips.