The effects of underwater pressure on the body - Neosha S Kashef
-
0:07 - 0:10Sometimes when a fish
is reeled up to the surface -
0:10 - 0:12it will appear inflated,
-
0:12 - 0:14with its eyes bulging out of their sockets
-
0:14 - 0:17and its stomach
projecting out of its mouth, -
0:17 - 0:19as if its been blown up like a balloon.
-
0:19 - 0:23This type of bodily damage,
caused by rapid changes in pressure, -
0:23 - 0:25is called barotrauma.
-
0:25 - 0:30Under the sea, pressure increases
by 14.7 pounds per square inch -
0:30 - 0:34for every 33 foot increase in depth.
-
0:34 - 0:36So, take the yelloweye rockfish,
-
0:36 - 0:39which can live as deep as 1800 feet,
-
0:39 - 0:43where there's over 800 pounds of pressure
on every square inch. -
0:43 - 0:48That's equivalent to the weight of a
polar bear balancing on a quarter. -
0:48 - 0:50Now, Boyle's gas law states
-
0:50 - 0:54that the volume of a gas
is inversely related to pressure. -
0:54 - 0:58So, any air-filled spaces,
like a rockfish's swim bladder, -
0:58 - 1:00or human lungs,
-
1:00 - 1:02will compress as they descend deeper
-
1:02 - 1:05and expand as they ascend.
-
1:05 - 1:09After a fish bites a fisherman's hook
and is quickly reeled up to the surface, -
1:09 - 1:13the air in its swim bladder
begins to expand. -
1:13 - 1:17Its rapid expansion actually forces
the fish's stomach out of its mouth, -
1:17 - 1:22while the increased internal pressure
pushes its eyes out of their sockets, -
1:22 - 1:25a condition called exophthalmia.
-
1:25 - 1:30Sometimes rockfish eyes will even have
a crystallized appearance -
1:30 - 1:32from corneal emphysemas,
-
1:32 - 1:36little gas bubbles
that build up inside the cornea. -
1:36 - 1:41Thankfully, a scuba diver doesn't have
a closed swim bladder to worry about. -
1:41 - 1:45A diver can regulate pressure in her lungs
by breathing out as she ascends, -
1:45 - 1:49but must be wary of other laws of physics
that are at play under the sea. -
1:49 - 1:53Henry's law states that the amount
of a gas that dissolves in a liquid -
1:53 - 1:57is proportional to its partial pressure.
-
1:57 - 2:01The air a diver breathes is 78% nitrogen.
-
2:01 - 2:03At a higher pressure under the sea,
-
2:03 - 2:05the nitrogen from the air in a scuba tank
-
2:05 - 2:11diffuses into a diver's tissues in greater
concentrations than it would on land. -
2:11 - 2:13If the diver ascends too quickly,
-
2:13 - 2:16this built up nitrogen
can come out of solution -
2:16 - 2:20and form microbubbles in her tissues,
blood and joints, -
2:20 - 2:24causing decompression sickness,
aka the bends. -
2:24 - 2:29This is similar to the fizz
of carbon dioxide coming out of your soda. -
2:29 - 2:32Gas comes out of solution
when the pressure's released. -
2:32 - 2:35But for a diver, the bubbles
cause severe pain -
2:35 - 2:37and sometimes even death.
-
2:37 - 2:41Divers avoid falling victim to the bends
by rising slowly -
2:41 - 2:45and taking breaks along the way,
called decompression stops, -
2:45 - 2:48so the gas has time to diffuse
back out of their tissues -
2:48 - 2:51and to be released through their breath.
-
2:51 - 2:53Just as a diver needs decompression,
-
2:53 - 2:56for a fish to recover,
it needs recompression, -
2:56 - 3:00which can be accomplished
by putting it back in the sea. -
3:00 - 3:03But that doesn't mean that fish
should just be tossed overboard. -
3:03 - 3:05An inflated body will float
-
3:05 - 3:09and get scooped up by a hungry sea lion
or pecked at by seagulls. -
3:09 - 3:10There's a common myth
-
3:10 - 3:14that piercing its stomach
with a needle will let air escape, -
3:14 - 3:17allowing the fish to swim
back down on its own. -
3:17 - 3:20But that is one balloon
that shouldn't be popped. -
3:20 - 3:22To return a fish properly to its habitat,
-
3:22 - 3:25fisherman can use
a descending device instead -
3:25 - 3:30to lower it on a fishing line
and release it at the right depth. -
3:30 - 3:33As it heads home and recompression
reduces gas volume, -
3:33 - 3:36its eyes can return
to their sockets and heal, -
3:36 - 3:39and its stomach can move back into place.
-
3:39 - 3:41This fish will live to see another day,
-
3:41 - 3:47once more free to swim, eat, reproduce
and replenish the population.
- Title:
- The effects of underwater pressure on the body - Neosha S Kashef
- Description:
-
View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-effects-of-underwater-pressure-on-the-body-neosha-s-kashef
Why would a fish throw up its stomach? What makes a scuba diver develop painful microbubbles in their joints? Neosha S Kashef details the basics of barotrauma, shedding light on how humans and fish alike are influenced by laws of physics under the sea.
Lesson by Neosha S Kashef, animation by The Moving Company Animation Studio.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TED-Ed
- Duration:
- 04:03
Jessica Ruby edited English subtitles for The effects of underwater pressure on the body - Neosha S Kashef | ||
Jessica Ruby edited English subtitles for The effects of underwater pressure on the body - Neosha S Kashef | ||
Jessica Ruby edited English subtitles for The effects of underwater pressure on the body - Neosha S Kashef | ||
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Jessica Ruby accepted English subtitles for The effects of underwater pressure on the body - Neosha S Kashef | ||
Jessica Ruby edited English subtitles for The effects of underwater pressure on the body - Neosha S Kashef | ||
Jessica Ruby edited English subtitles for The effects of underwater pressure on the body - Neosha S Kashef | ||
Jennifer Cody edited English subtitles for The effects of underwater pressure on the body - Neosha S Kashef |