The Physics of Scuba Diving
The physics of scuba diving
Imagine swimming in the underwater world with all the creatures and all the beauty it holds. It is an amazing feeling to swim over coral reefs and see all the sea life up close and personal. So many scuba divers all over the world share a passion to scuba dive. Scuba diving has been a worldwide endeavor for centuries (1). Persian divers were making goggles for diving around 1300. A British engineer invented the air pump in 1771 and in 1772 a Frenchman tried inventing a re-breathing device that ended up killing him (1). In the 1800’s English inventors came up with more re-breathing devices (1). Over time dive suits that weighed a lot were invented along with tubes and air tanks. This is just a small amount of scuba diving equipment history. Today we have come a long way with diving equipment. We now use BCD’s. A BCD stands for buoyancy control device that you can inflate and deflate to maintain buoyancy while diving. We have dive computers to tell us how deep we are diving, the time, how much air we have in our tanks and what direction we are heading. We have regulators to keep us breathing under water, which is the most important part of diving. We even have wetsuits that help regulate the heat in our bodies and to protect us from the hazards of the environment such as fire corals or jelly fish that we may rub against. The Professional Association of Diving Instructors, also known as PADI for short, is the largest organization that offers training and certification for scuba divers (2). PADI offers training all over the world (2). PADI trains people to dive at certain depths as well as rescue diving, wreck diving and adventure diving. The first step to getting certified is to read the PADI manual and take a few tests and quiz’s to insure you understand the safety precautions and rules of diving. You then learn to use the BCD and to breathe through your regulator in a pool. After your pool training you will be taken out to do
Imagine swimming in the underwater world with all the creatures and all the beauty it holds. It is an amazing feeling to swim over coral reefs and see all the sea life up close and personal. So many scuba divers all over the world share a passion to scuba dive. Scuba diving has been a worldwide endeavor for centuries (1). Persian divers were making goggles for diving around 1300. A British engineer invented the air pump in 1771 and in 1772 a Frenchman tried inventing a re-breathing device that ended up killing him (1). In the 1800’s English inventors came up with more re-breathing devices (1). Over time dive suits that weighed a lot were invented along with tubes and air tanks. This is just a small amount of scuba diving equipment history. Today we have come a long way with diving equipment. We now use BCD’s. A BCD stands for buoyancy control device that you can inflate and deflate to maintain buoyancy while diving. We have dive computers to tell us how deep we are diving, the time, how much air we have in our tanks and what direction we are heading. We have regulators to keep us breathing under water, which is the most important part of diving. We even have wetsuits that help regulate the heat in our bodies and to protect us from the hazards of the environment such as fire corals or jelly fish that we may rub against. The Professional Association of Diving Instructors, also known as PADI for short, is the largest organization that offers training and certification for scuba divers (2). PADI offers training all over the world (2). PADI trains people to dive at certain depths as well as rescue diving, wreck diving and adventure diving. The first step to getting certified is to read the PADI manual and take a few tests and quiz’s to insure you understand the safety precautions and rules of diving. You then learn to use the BCD and to breathe through your regulator in a pool. After your pool training you will be taken out to do
Bibliography: 1. Bellis, Mary. About.com Guide. The History of Scuba Diving. http://inventors.about.com/od/cstartinventors/a/Scuba.htm (accessed on 11/26/10). Part of About.com. http://www.about.com (accessed on 11/26/10). 2. PADI Statistics. http://www.padi.com/scuba/about-padi/PADI-statistics/default.aspx (accessed on 11/26/10). Part of PADI The Way the World Learns to Dive. http://www.Padi.com/scuba/default.aspx (accessed on 11/26/10). 3. Physics of Scuba Diving. http:/www.thescubaguide.com/certification/physics-of-diving (accessed on 11/26/10). Part of the Scuba Guide. http://www.thescubaguide.com (accessed on 11/26/10) 4. Blickenstorfer, Conrad H. Diving Physics. http:/www.scubadiverinfo.com/2_physics.html (accessed on 11/26/10). Part of Scuba Diver Info. http://www.scubadiverinfo.com/ (accessed on 11/26/10) 5. Pulley, Steven A. Decompression Sickness. http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/769717-overview (accessed on 11/26/10). Part of emedicine from WebMD. http://www.emedicine.medscape.com/ (accessed on 11/26/10) 6. Scuba Diving. http://www.sportsmatchmaker.com/rules/s-sports/scuba_diving.cfm (accessed on 11/26/10). Part of sports matchmaker. http://www.sportsmedicine.com/index.cfm (accessed on 11/26/10)