Diving is a wonderful experience... although it is not without risks, and it requires us to study some basic concepts before starting. One of them is the behavior of our lungs underwater. The channel of illusionist and professional diver Christian Wedoy explains the danger we face when holding our breath during diving, and especially when ascending.
The Balloon Experiment
A fairly common experiment consists of inflating a balloon and taking it underwater. The pressure of the liquid around it (equivalent to about two atmospheres at a depth of 10 meters) causes the volume of gas to decrease, and the balloon becomes softer, so to speak. In the opposite direction, if we inflate a balloon underwater and let it ascend, its volume will begin to increase, and in the worst case it will end up exploding because it cannot resist the expansion once it reaches the surface. Simply, it is Boyle-Mariotte's law in action, but there is a small detail: When we dive, our lungs must also obey it.
What Happens When You Hold Your Breath?
A recent video published by the illusionist Christian Wedoy helps us understand this. In a normal diving session we take air at the surface, go down a bit, our lungs compress, and upon ascending they return to their original parameters. However, when we move into the realm of scuba diving and carry with us an oxygen tank, when breathing at 10 meters depth, the five liters of volume (on average) will become to become ten if we decide to return to the surface while holding our breath. Logically, our lungs have a limit, and faced with such an increase in volume they will suffer a tear, releasing oxygen into the chest cavity. Needless to say, we could end up dead without proper treatment.
The Fundamental Rule
In summary, fundamental rule: We must not hold our breath during ascent. Quite the opposite… the idea is to exhale as we approach the surface so our lungs can adjust their pressure-volume relationship freely. The last thing you need is for your lungs to behave like the balloons that explode in the video.
