SCUBA Diving
Safety Guidelines
Gas Laws
Charles - Gas tends to expand when heated. Volume and temperature are directly related.
Dalton - Pressure exerted by a mixture of gases is the sum of partial pressure of each individual gas.
Gay-Lussac - At constant volume, the pressure of gas is proportional to its temperature.
Henry - The mass of a gas which will dissolve into a solution is proportional to the partial pressure of the gas above the solution.
Dangerous Conditions
"The Bends" (Decompression Sickness)
DANGERS: Damage to body, death
SIDE EFFECTS: Fatigue, swollen lymph nodes, pain in head, neck, or torso
TREATMENT: Give the diver high flow oxygen and allow them to be treated in a hyperbaric chamber.
GAS LAW: Boyle's - if volume decreases, pressure increases, causing nitrogen bubbles to form from the skin from sudden decompression.
Air Embolisms
DANGERS: Damage to body, death
SIDE EFFECTS: Difficulty breathing, respiratory failure, chest pain, heart failure, stroke, confusion, blue skin
TREATMENT: Can be removed through surgery, or treated in a hyperbaric chamber
GAS LAW: Boyle's - if volume decreases, pressure increases, causing air bubbles to come out of the body and possibly block veins or arteries.
Oxygen Toxicity
DANGERS: Damage to body, death
SIDE EFFECTS: Muscle twitching, dizziness, trouble breathing, anxiety, in-coordination, convulsion
TREATMENT: Hyperbaric temperature
GAS LAW: Dalton's - Partial pressure increases with total pressure. The creation of elevated oxygen causes convulsions of oxygen toxicity.
Always learn the dangers of scuba diving before deciding to go.
Fun Facts
- Once you get below 10 meters, you can't see red or yellow! Your blood will look blue to you
- Sharks kill 8-12 people a year. Humans kill over 30 million sharks a year.