CHAPTER 3Diving Physics We live at the bottom of an ocean of air. We are adapted to these surroundings. Our bodies, our senses, our perceptions, our instincts have evolved in response to our terrestrial environment. Very recently we have learned to fly, to venture underwater, and to go into outer space. But these places remain foreign to us, and we must use special equipment to take us there and to keep us alive. When we enter one of these other environments, many things that we consider “normal” no longer seem to apply. “Common sense” tells us that a dropped object will fall to the ground, but underwater it may rise rather than fall. There are many properties of the aquatic environment that can have profound, even life threatening effects if we do not understand and compensate for them. Many persons see physics as a challenging if not a daunting subject. They are not comfortable with numbers and mathematics. Remember that the numbers and the formulas that you will encounter are tools, not ends in themselves. The early scientific discoverer’s used mathematics to better understand and describe what they were actually observing. This chapter extends your knowledge by further defining concepts and providing you with some tools for solving diving-related problems. The goal is to give you a better and deeper understanding of the principles of physics as they affect you in your diving.
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