The floating ball ``paradox'' (Q972701)

The paper is a response to a previous paper of \textit{H. C. Wente} [J. Math. Fluid Mech. 10, No.~4, 569--582 (2008; Zbl 1196.76024)]. It concerns the validity of Thomas Young's balance of forces argument to derive the contact angle conditions, see \textit{R. Finn} [Phys. Fluids 18, No.~4, Art. 047102, 7~p. (2006); erratum ibid. 20, No.~10, Paper No. 109901, 1~p. (2008; Zbl 1185.76470)]. The author suggests a different view, and offers an alternative interpretation of the example of a floating ball experiment. This discussion indicates that there are many interesting open problems concerning a mathematical theory of floating particles.