Diving physics
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These are the laws of physics that govern the physics of the SCUBA diver and of diving equipment:
- Buoyancy - when in water, the density of the materials in the diver's body and in the diver's equipment determine whether the diver floats or sinks
- Boyle's law - as pressure increases the volume of gases in the diver's body and equipment decreases
- Dalton's law - in mixtures of breathing gases the concentration of the individual components of the gas mix is measured by partial pressure
- Henry's law - as pressure increases the quantity of gas adsorbed by the tissues of the human body increases, increasing the risk of decompression sickness
Physical effects of water or the underwater environment:
- Pressure - the overall pressure on a diver is the sum of the atmospheric pressure and the water pressure
- Density - common materials found in body and in the diver's equipment such as air, water, steel and lead have widely differing densities.
- Increase thermal conductivity in water, compared to air
- Absorption of light and loss of colour underwater
- Under pressure, gases compress but liquids do not
- gravitational forces and the rotation of the earth cause tidal currents
- Effects of weather such as wind, which causes waves, and temperature.