I SCUBA Depth Calculations

Dr. Surgery · May 16, 2016

So if you were scuba diving and your depth gauge broke, could you create a system where you exhale some air and record the time it took to reach the surface. If so, what would they equation look like?

berkeman · May 16, 2016

Dr. Surgery said: ↑

So if you were scuba diving and your depth gauge broke, could you create a system where you exhale some air and record the time it took to reach the surface. If so, what would they equation look like?

Fun question. But first of all, when I'm scuba diving, it's hard for me to see my bubbles all the way to the surface. And second of all, we prefer for posters to show some effort in their questions -- what have you found in your reading about this question?

nasu · May 17, 2016

Maybe the size of the bubbles may be a rough indicator of the depth.
Have you observed a difference in the average size as you go deeper?

Dr. Surgery · May 18, 2016

While you may be able to observe the difference of the mass of the gas of the bubbles, wouldn´t the volume be the same because it is about how your lungs(Constant volume) will hold at a given depth/pressure, and I am not sure how reliable it would be to measure it. I am looking for an algorithm similar to dropping a rock, and counting how many seconds it takes for it to land to calculate how high a cliff is.

berkeman · May 18, 2016

I did a Google search on Bubbles Reach Terminal Velocity, and got lots of good hits. Here's a paper that may be helpful for you:

http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/i...al Projects/Fluids Drag/Terminal Velocity.pdf

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I SCUBA Depth Calculations

Dr. Surgery

berkeman

Staff: Mentor

nasu

Dr. Surgery

berkeman

Staff: Mentor