Significant Success

I had the day off of work, so today I was going to make some progress! I was on a mission.

First I stopped by the gym to get fueled up in the cafe. Then I did a little warm up, and it was on to the pool for a little pre-selftesting on my water skills tests coming up in a couple of weeks.

Test 1: Swim 400 metres in under 14 minutes. I did a little stretch, set the timer, and off I went...


Upon surfacing after my 16 laps (in the gym's 25 metre pool), No Problem! Just over 12 minutes. I think it's my daily 20-30 miles of biking that's keeping me "afloat" or at least not negatively bouyant! ;-)


Very happy out of the pool, I was back on the bike for quick 10 mile ride to the dive shop. Three tests to take this afternoon.

Diving Physics:
1.1 - Explain why water is able to dissipate body heat faster than air, at what rate this occurs, and what effect this has upon the diver.
1.2 - Explain the behavior of light as it passes from an air/water interface and what effect this has upon the diver.
1.3 - Divine the "visual reversal" phenomenon and explain its effect upon the diver.
1.4 - Explain why sound travels faster in water than in air, by approximately how much and what effect this has upon the diver.
1.5 - State Archimedes' Principle and calculate the buoyancy required to either lift or sink an object in both fresh and seawater.
1.6 - Define the terms "absolute", "ambient", and "guage" pressure and calculate pressure at any depth as expressed by these terms in both fresh and seawater.
1.7 - Explain the relationship between pressure and volume on a flexible gas-filled container, and calculate the changes that will occur to that container as it is raised and lowered in a water column.
1.8 - Explain the relationship between depth and the density of the air a diver breathes, and calculate this relationship in increments of whole atmospheres
1.9 - Given a diver's air consumption rate at one depth, calculate how that consumption rate changes when depth changes.
1.10 - Describe how the behavior of a gas within both a flexible and inflexible container is affected by changes in pressure and tempurature.
1.11 - Given their percentages, calculate the partial pressures of gases in a mixture at any depth.
1.12 - Explain the effect of breathing contaminated air mixtures at depth and calculate the equivilent effect such contamination would have upon the diver at the surface.
1.13 - Explain what will occur to a liquid saturated with a gas at high pressure when the pressure of the gas in contact with the liquid is quickly reduced.
1.14 - Define "supersaturation" and explain what conditions are necessary for gas bubbles to form in a supersaturated liquid.

Whew! That was just the first test! Result = PASSED!

Then came Physiology (I'll spare ya the details, but similarly intense); result = PASSED! And lastly, Equipment; result = PASSED!

Very nice third week indeed!