Draft of Proposal

Executive Summary:


Introduction:
Many people discover the underwater world and learn the basic rules of diving. However, very few people understand that the sources of the diving rules are very simple physiological and physical laws. Consequently many don’t internalize the rules, underestimate their values, take risks and eventually have an accident. 60% of the recreational diving accidents happen to experienced or very experienced divers (levels 3 to 5 and instructors) with a median age of 34 years. These divers knew the rules, were officially sanctioned as good and proficient divers, yet did not understand enough the fundamental nature of these rules and chose to ignore them. The purpose of this document is to make the fundamental physiological and physical laws comprehensible to all so that the diving rules become meaningful to divers and are fully internalized. May this document prevent accidents for all of us that “know better” or don’t have time to memorize “the rules”

Body:
• Current Situation
o In the book, Open Water Diver by the SSI, there are 15 pages dedicated to the understanding of physiology (half on basic physiology and half on the symptoms) out of 214 pages. Only three percent of the book is spent on understanding the physiology of diving, and it does not include any physics about diving.
o The same physiological and physics laws apply to most accidents when they happen. They happen because people fail to follow basic rules not because they are unknown but because their values are not understood.
 According to the yearly report by the FFESSM (Federation Francais d’Etudes et de Sports Sous-Marins) in 1998, 40 percent of accidents that occurred were by divers ranging from level 3 to 5. (French scuba diving levels are as follows: Beginner, Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 4, and Level 5.) 80 percent of accidents were from decompression sickness. There were 320 diving accidents recorded.
 In the Statics of Diving Accidents by Dr. Bruno Grandjean, the chart shows diving statics from 1995 to 2004. You see a general trend where over 40 percent of diving accidents happen to level 3 to 5 divers and instructors each year.
• Project Plan / Methodology
o Intro
o Table of contents
o Physiology
 Blood (hemoglobin carries O2 and CO2)
 Circulation of blood in the body (blood going to the tissues is 500 m2 of capillary veins)
 Breathing (lung capacity, exchange of CO2/O2)
o Physics
 Archimedes
• Experimental test
• Principle
• Application to diving
 Notions of mass, density and weight
 Notions of pressure
• Force exerted by a solid
• Force exerted by a the air
• Force exerted by a liquid
• Hydrostatic pressure experimental test
• Fundamental principal of hydrostatic
∆p = pN – pM = omega * h = ro * g * h
Where:
pN = pressure at point N
pM = pressure at point M
Omega = weight of the volume of liquid
Ro = weight of the volume of mass
h = difference of elevation between the horizontal plane containing N and the horizontal plane containing M
g = Earth’s gravity
• Absolute pressure
 Boyle-Mariotte Law
• Experimental test
• Law
At constant temperature, the volume V of a gas varies inversely proportional to the absolute pressure
P1*V1 = P2*V2
• Application to diving
 Dalton’s Law
• Experimental test
• Law
“At a given temperature, the absolute pressure of a mixed gas is equal to the sum of the partial pressure that these gas would have they occupied alone the total volume.”
pa = absolute pressure of the mixed gas
pp = partial pressure
The partial pressure of a gas from a mixture is equal to the product of the total pressure of the mixture multiplied by the volume percentage of the gas under consideration
pp = X/100 (percentage volume) * pa
• Application to diving
 Mechanism of gas dissolution in a liquid
• Experimental test
Open a soft drink bottle or a bottle of Champagne and watch the bubbles rise up
• Henry’s Law
“At constant temperature and at saturation, the quantity of gas dissolved per unit of volume in a liquid is proportional to the pressure of the gas above the liquid”
• Tension
p = kC
Where
p = pressure of gas,
C = concentration of gas in solution
k = constant of Henry relative to couple gas/liquid
• Under saturation, saturation, over saturation
• Tissues
• De-saturation – Over-saturation
 Temperature
• Water temperature impact
 Optical underwater
• Description
• Application to diving
 Sound
• Diving
o Conclusion
o Edition
o Index

• Qualifications
o I am a certified SSI (Scuba Schools International) diver. I dived in the US and in France. In addition, I enjoy going into the water. I know French and American scuba diving instructors who can give me insights into advanced scuba diving rules and experiences.

• Timeline
o Finish 8 to 10 pages per week
o This will allow the completion of 25 pages by Oct 4.

Conclusion: