Farting at Five Fathoms???

[ClayJar]

As you aren't a rigid body, there shouldn't be any more significant delta in pressure than if you let it go topside. That said, it would be a smaller volume of... er, offgassing... at depth due the increased pressure.

The school kid in me was somewhat bemused when my Rescue materials actually mentioned eating gas-producing foods as a potentially bad idea due to the possibility of producing gases at depth which would (obviously) expand during ascent, potentially causing a painful (or in other ways unpleasant?) situation.

I couldn't help but wonder how much misbehaving food one would have to eat to experience buoyancy problems (or a runaway ascent). Incidentally, could you on-gas the methane (etc), and if you did, what is the narcotic potential of methane?

 

[CentralTxDiver]

What if one was wearing a drysuit? I imagine one might have to open a relief valve on the drysuit to keep from suddenly ascending due to the rapid infusion of the fart gas in the drysuit. Hmm...something to think about.

Jim

 

[phunk]

I would think that your overall volume wouldn't change if you let one go in a drysuit...

I do know that the bubbles feel funny going up the back of a wetsuit...

 

[WetDawg]

Could not resist this one...

It breaks down like this; you would have to develop enough internal pressure to overcome the ambient pressure to squeeze out a fart at any depth. This higher internal pressure would keep any water (or other matter) from entering the void at the back end during this brief moment of exposure.

Now the really cool thing about farting at depth is that as the expelled gas bubble rises it will expand (as you might recall from Boyle's Law) -- this phenomenon always gets a big laugh from your friends on the surface when they are hit with a monster stinky from down below.:mooner:

 

[Ironhed]

I think over on spearboard a few of the guys have sent baby divers into the deep blue sea at 100 feet so I am guessing expelling some gas should not be a problem.

 

[Jim Ernst]

See, I knew the experts would know

david, you instigator!!! lol

 

[CentralTxDiver]

I guess we need to get the Mythbuster's in on this one.

Jim

 

[The Horn]

Say you blow your relief valve amidst a school of fish? Would they notice ie attracted or repelled?

When the bubbles pop on the surface does each one have a diminished noise value depending on size and concentration of gas it contains?

Could you, as a Rec diver enter your dive "log" (no Pun intendend) as a "mixed gas" dive?

Would surface people not alerted to the relieved gas be hit with a higher concentration due to the original pressure package?

 

[JeffG]

Nice to know that the curriculum at FSU fosters this type of questioning by currents students.

Problem is that everyone enjoys a good fart joke. Even FSU students.

 

[Jim Ernst]

Say you blow your relief valve amidst a school of fish? Would they notice ie attracted or repelled?

When the bubbles pop on the surface does each one have a diminished noise value depending on size and concentration of gas it contains?

Could you, as a Rec diver enter your dive "log" (no Pun intendend) as a "mixed gas" dive?

Would surface people not alerted to the relieved gas be hit with a higher concentration due to the original pressure package?