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Chapter 15: Problem 10

It's not possible to breathe through a snorkel from a depth greater than a meter or so. Why not?

Short Answer

Expert verified
Beyond a certain depth while snorkeling, it becomes increasingly difficult to breathe due to increased water pressure. This excessive water pressure opposes the force exerted by our lungs to draw air into them, making it impossible to breathe.

Step by step solution

01

Pressure difference and Lung functioning

First, one should understand the fundamentals of pressure in liquids. It increases with depth. When the snorkeler goes deeper, the pressure of water increases on his/her body, including the chest. Human lungs function by creating a pressure difference between the inside and outside, breathing in when the inside pressure is less and breathing out when the pressure inside is more.
02

Effect of depth on pressure difference

When snorkeling too deep, the external pressure exerted by the water becomes much more significant than what the lung can create inside, hence disrupting the capacity of the lungs to maintain a useful pressure difference for breathing.
03

Snorkel's role

The snorkel is a tube that's about 30-40 cms long. When underwater, it helps in breathing air from above the water surface. However, beyond 1 or 2 meters deep, the water pressure restricts the snorkeler from inhaling through the snorkel due to the immense pressure needed to draw air down the snorkel and into the lungs against the pressure of the water.
04

Pressure law to quantify the effect

According to Boyle's law, at a constant temperature, the pressure and volume of a gas are inversely proportional. As a snorkeler goes deeper, the pressure increases making it increasingly difficult to draw enough air volume through the snorkel into the lungs.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Show that pressure has the units of energy density.

A barge filled with steel beams overturns in a lake, spilling its cargo. Does the water level in the lake rise, fall, or remain the same?

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