🔍 Key Concepts

• Relationship between G (center of gravity), B (center of buoyancy), and M (metacenter) in small angles of heel • Definition of metacentric height in basic stability: distance between which two points? • Difference between righting arm (GZ) and metacentric radius (BM)

💭 Think About

• Look at the vertical line through G and M in the illustration: which labeled segment is the distance called metacentric height in stability textbooks? • Ask yourself: is metacentric height measured from the center of buoyancy or from the center of gravity? Then match that to the symbols shown. • Which option represents a distance (a line between two points) rather than a single point or horizontal lever arm?

✅ Before You Answer

• Confirm which symbol in the diagram is the center of gravity (G) and which is the metacenter (M). • Identify which answer choices are points (single letters) and which are distances between points (two letters together). • Verify that metacentric height is a vertical distance used to judge initial stability, not the righting arm GZ shown horizontally in the figure.