Scuba

No, even though dental compressors have very clean air, it is still not water-free enough to go in a steel tank, though it shouldn't cause problems in an aluminum, but mainly, even the high pressure dental pumps only go up to 175 psi, and even the lowest pressure scuba tanks are 2400psi, going up to 3300 in North America and 5000 in Europe.

SCUBA was invented for recreational and practical purposes. Some use SCUBA to experience underwater life in person, whereas others use SCUBA to perform underwater tasks, such as welding.

The numbers on a scuba tank reveal 3 things. Serial no. of the tank. Type metal. and the current hydro date.

The short answer is yes, but it takes many repetitive dives in a short period.

Your body always has nitrogen from the air you breathe dissolved in it, and the amount of nitrogen that is dissolved depends on the pressure on your body. That pressure comes from the weight of the atmosphere pressing on you when you're on the surface. As you descend in the water the weight of the water increases the pressure, and your body can then absorb more nitrogen (or any other gas you breathe) in proportion to the increased pressure. Double the pressure, and your body can absorb twice as much nitrogen. Of course your body can only absorb the nitrogen that is inhaled. When the pressure is reduced on ascent the extra gas will be lost. If the reduction in pressure is small enough or slow enough the gas will remain in solution and be carried to the lungs to be exhaled. If the reduction is too much or too fast the gas will come out of solution and form bubbles. All forms of decompression sickness, including the bends, are caused by those bubbles.

Since SCUBA divers use tanks with a large amount of air (and therefore nitrogen, which accounts for 79% of the air), they can absorb large amounts of nitrogen if they dive deep enough or long enough. Because free divers only use a single breath per dive they can't absorb very much nitrogen on a single dive. However, a free diver may go very deep for several minutes, and may absorb a great deal of the nitrogen that is in that single breath. If the free diver makes many repetitive dives in a short period of time they will absorb nitrogen on each dive, and they may absorb more than they have lost between dives. It is therefore possible, though difficult and unlikely, for a free diver to get the bends. There have been known case of this happening to pearl divers.

The most serious form of barotrauma, a group of problems caused when air expands on ascent, is pulmonary barotrauma, which is caused by over-expansion of air in the lungs. A breath of air taken at the surface will decrease in size as pressure increases during descent, and will re-expand as pressure decreases on ascent. This is not a problem for free divers, because the air won't expand beyond the original lungfull of air they originally took. Since SCUBA divers breath compressed air at depth air in their lungs can expand to much more than a lungfull if they hold their breatth while ascending. The volume of a breath taken at 33 feet will double during ascent to the surface. If that air remains in the lungs while expanding it can result in many forms of very serious damage, thus it is very important that SCUBA divers never hold their breath.

Jacques Cousteau one of the better known inventors/developers of SCUBA routinely and successfully took people who couldn't swim underwater with his equipment. This gear, even if in perfect condition would probably be avoided by divers given the choice of a modern regulator. He also took old people to very deep depths on their first dive. Whilst none of them died we probably wouldn't consider that to be the best plan or criteria of success.

I suppose if you can breathe underwater with your SCUBA your poor swimming skills is not such a problem as you won't drown. On the other hand being confident and comfortable in the water is very important in diving and as a result all diving accreditation including PADI BSAC and CMAS have minimum swimming requirements. These are not normally very big distances either. As a diver I have often had to swim on the surface a long way without breathing from my cylinders so it probably helps to be able to swim. I would say that these organisations who make it their business to train people to dive probably know best, so if they suggest a minimum swimming ability it might be wise to achieve that before swimming straight down...

It definitely would. Also, a tank filled with non-compressed air would be nearly impossible to use because air wouldn't flow out of it without an enormous amount of effort. For these reasons, all tanks used by divers are filled with compressed air.

each recognized diving training institute has it's own age requirements w/specific limitations - PADI has the most leinient standards

PADI
* 10 years old (less than 40' deep)
* Students younger than 15 years, who successfully complete the course qualify for the PADI Junior Open Water Diver certification, which they may upgrade to PADI Open Water Diver certification upon reaching 15.(less than 70' deep)
You must be at least 13 years old to take scuba lessons online with PADI eLearning, due to international internet laws. If you're younger, you can still learn to dive - just have your parent or legal guardian contact your local PADI Dive Shop or Resort.

Scuba stands for Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. It uses two regulators, one on the bottle which takes the volume of compressed air to a manageable rate, then the second regulator takes the air to a breathable rate so the diver can breath the air comfortable.

The other part of diving is a divers buoyancy. This is controlled by using a hose which comes from the first stage regulator into a vest called a B.C. (Buoyancy Compensator). The goal of this device is to get you, the diver as close as possible to becoming neutrally buoyant (you don't go up or down, you just stay in the middle). However once neutral buoyancy is achieved it can still be affected through your breathing rate.

Gregory L.

Las Vegas, NV (D.I.T.)

This depends on the use of muscles, not just their existence. Some people have a higher metabolic rate than others and this would lead to their air being used quicker as their heart requires a higher rate of oxygen and therefore the lungs have to provide more and so work more often. A muscular diver may use his air more quickly if he is more active. Remember that the air is extracted when you breath, so it's that rate which counts. I would like to add another fator which affects the rate of air used. When there is pressure around the front of your face, the nervous system is built so that you breath quicker, and you are more aware of your breathing than normal. So the water pressure around the face when diving does affect your breathing. Very experienced divers that have had lots of dives will be more used to this, they adapt to it, and therefore use much less air than a first time diver.

The best time to dive is during slack tide.

A scuba diver.

yes how do you think golf balls are made.

ScubaPro is an EXCELLENT Name.

So is Mares and Dacor.

After 30 years of teaching it has been obvious to me that Scuba Divers really do not have a specialized diet. After diver activities usually revolve around high calorie meals to replenish energy lost especially when diving in cold Canadian waters.

Depends on which piece of equipment you are looking at.....

wetsuits=NO

regulators=KINDA

fins=YES

these answers are of course subjective, but each manufacturer usually specializes on a particular product and expands their product base w/less than superior items.... ie: i love Zeagle regs.... wouldn't wear their fins if given to me for free.

Cressi-Sub, IST and XS-Scuba just to name a few. They are all good snorkels. It's just a matter of finding the right one for your needs.

Self Contained Under Breathing Apparatus

It would cost 15$ in Australian money

discovering scuba diving in the local vicinity. this could be diving underwater in fresh water, sea water or fresh water cavern diving

A scuba diver

Depends upon the sausage (or SMB). Some have valves that can only be orally inflated. Others have valves that fit a pressure inflator. Some just a great big hole that you can put your alternate second stage under and press the purge valve to fill.

You can find your local PADI shop at PADI.com, click on the Start Diving link at the top, and it will take you to the find your local dive center page.

we prefer to be called scuba divers but some may call us frogmen : )

When the density of a object is less than that of the surrounding fluid, the buoyant force is great enough to move it up.

It isn't necessarily deadly, although can result in death. Various symptoms can present themselves including respiratory problems and paralysis