Underwater pressure calculation chart

  • This is just a post to easily figure out underwater pressure. I always forget how to do it.
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    Pressure increases with ocean depth


    At sea level, the air that surrounds us presses down on our bodies at 14.7 pounds per square inch (1 bar). You don't feel it because the fluids in your body are pushing outward with the same force.


    Dive down into the ocean even a few feet, though, and a noticeable change occurs. You can feel an increase of pressure on your eardrums. This is due to an increase in hydrostatic pressure, the force per unit area exerted by a liquid on an object.


    The deeper you go under the sea, the greater the pressure of the water pushing down on you. For every 33 feet (10 meters) you go down, the pressure increases by 14.7 psi (1 bar). In the deepest ocean, the pressure is equivalent to the weight of an elephant balanced on a postage stamp, or the equivalent of one person trying to support 50 jumbo jets!


    Many animals that live in the sea have no trouble at all with high pressure. Whales, for instance, can withstand dramatic pressure changes because their bodies are more flexible. Their ribs are bound by loose, bendable cartilage, which allows the rib cage to collapse at pressures that would easily snap our bones.


    A whale's lungs can also collapse safely under pressure, which keeps them from rupturing. This allows sperm whales to hunt for giant squid at depths of 7,000 feet (2,100 meters) or more.


    Pressure at depth - Gives the pressure in atmospheres (atm) at a given depth in sea water


  • A simple rule is add 1 atm per 10 meters. Whats amazing is that if you have 1 liter of air at sea level in your lungs you will have half a liter of air at 10 meters and at 20 meters depth you will have a quarter liter of air in your lungs. Thats why they tell scuba divers to never hold there breath while diving. At 33 feet if you take a full breath of air and you dont exhale when rising to the surface the volume doubles and your lungs will double in size too and you will be in really bad shape. One of the things freedivers don't need to worry about.

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