🔍 Key Concepts

• Free surface effect and how it reduces metacentric height (GM) • How to compute the weight of water in the tank from depth and weight per foot of water • The formula relating free surface moment, displacement, and reduction in GM

💭 Think About

• First, determine how many tons of water are actually in the hold at 2.0 feet depth. How do the tank dimensions and the given "tons per foot of water" relate? • Think about whether you need to use the full tank depth or only the depth of water actually present when finding the free surface effect. • Once you have the free surface moment, how is reduction in GM related to that and the vessel’s total displacement (696 tons)?

✅ Before You Answer

• Be sure you are using the correct water depth (2.0 ft) in any volume/weight calculations, not the full 9 ft tank depth. • Confirm that your units are consistent: tons, feet, and ton-feet (or ton-ft² for moments of inertia). • Before picking an answer, check whether your computed reduction in GM is a reasonable fraction of the vessel’s GM, not larger than the vessel’s likely transverse stability.