Article Analysis Essay on Living Under Sea

Introduction

The exploration of life underwater and experimentation on how divers can stay underwater, exposed to the ocean pressure for long, work there and move about freely is the main message in the article. The surface covered by water is 11,500,000 square miles, therefore; it is interesting to explore the area underwater (MacInnis, 2015). The water extends to the continental shelf, which covers up to 600 feet into the land. The underwater also has some mineral deposits such as natural gas and oil. The explorations main target is to study the chemical, meteorological, biological and geological components that are underwater. However, the study and exploration will benefit the submarine rescue operations in the seas.

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The simulated flight theory argues that a diver can move freely and more efficiently without having to come up and go back down repeatedly. This effect is due to the pressure in water, which causes the decompression sickness. Under much pressure, the divers inhale inert gas, which diffuses into their blood systems and other body tissues (MacInnis, 2015). The removal of this gas from the blood system and then from the body through the lungs is decompression. Therefore, the decompression effect is lighter deep down without coming back up, but the decompression schedules must be controlled and calculated with care.

Pressure has significant effects on the diver's breathing with too much or too little oxygen being dangerous for the divers. The required levels of oxygen depend on the depth, duration and the diver's phase, and the muscular strength that the diver requires. Nitrogen gas is the inert gas, which can impair a diver's motor ability and judgment under much pressure. Therefore, nitrogen is replaced by helium, which is less narcotic and less dense thus offering less resistance to breathing under pressure (MacInnis, 2015). However, helium has some side effects. It has a thermal conductivity that is higher than nitrogen, which increases the loss of heat from the body making the diver uncomfortable even at normal temperatures. It also disturbs the coordination of a diver's voice leading to communication problems.

Atmospheric pressure is pressure in the air while liquid pressure is the pressure exerted in a fluid. Water is incompressible, and its density remains constant as pressure changes while air is compressible with its density changing as pressure changes. Atmospheric pressure is exerted above a surface by the atmospheric weight above it while liquid pressure is exerted by the weight of a liquid above an object. In diving, the divers experience the atmospheric pressure while at the water surface and the liquid pressure while in water. The deeper the divers get to the more the pressure they bear. Liquid pressure is sometimes higher than atmospheric pressure.

Various undersea investigators including Captain George F. Bond, carried out different experiments to understand how long divers can stay in water without complications (MacInnis, 2015). They discovered that divers could only withstand difficulties in the sea by using diving suits and protective armor. The armor, however, holds the divers' movements as it hinders their flexibility and mobility. They also discovered that divers could breathe longer using helium than nitrogen. The use of cylindrical chambers can improve the duration of the divers under water. This conclusion was confirmed after the "SEALAB I" experiment where four men stayed in the water for 10days in a cylindrical chamber. The "SEALAB II" experiment was also a confirmation when 30 men lived in water for 15 days. Electrical suits can be used for longer hours as they maintain and control the heat enabling a diver to be more active.

The ideal gas law is an important equation that compares temperature, pressure, amount and volume. The ideal gas law is crucial to the divers as it helps calculate and plan for the best decompression to avoid adverse effects to the divers. It helps to get the fourth property of gas when the other three are known. The ideal gas law has been used to determine the best gas that can be used by divers to keep them underwater longer. Co2 was discovered to be the worst gas, which accumulates faster and causes a headache, rapid breathing, and dizziness. Nitrogen was a better gas, but helium was the best, as divers would use it for longer.

Conclusion

Different fluid dynamics terminologies used in the article are compressible fluids, which are liquids that are compressible, and its density changes with a change in pressure. An incompressible fluid is liquids whose density does not change with a change in pressure. Density is a fluids mass compared to its volume. Inert gas is a gas that does not have chemical reactions under some specific conditions. Thermal conductivity is the degree to which a specific object conducts electricity. Thermal conductivity is also the rate at which an object conducts heat. Helium allows more heat to pass through than nitrogen gas. Pressure is the force that is applied to an object per unit area. Therefore, it is calculated by finding the force that is applied in one unit area.

References

MacInnis, J. B. (2015). Living under the sea. Journal of Diving History, 23(85), 40-43.