PADI OW Final Exam Questions that are either wrong or just bad

[Gone for diving]

Where do you dive?

Perhaps where you dive is what makes you answer in this way?

I my area... lots of rain runoff effects visibility... also lake Erie can get stirred up by the wind (shallow lake), plus we get an algae bloom, mid summer.

 

[Lorenzoid]

That is clearly explaioned earlier in the manual. It is the label on the tank that is put there by whoever filled it with Nitrox, saying what THEY thought the O2 percentage was.

I figured it was explained. And now I see why it can seem like an odd question to many of us who were taught to ignore any analysis sticker that may have already been put on the tank by someone else; I was taught to analyze and fill in the sticker myself, including my initials to indicate I personally performed the analysis. Of course I realize that in the real world some of us dive from boats using tanks that have been marked with an analysis sticker by dive op personnel and placed in the boat before we board. In that case, I suppose I would end up doing what the question suggests is the correct answer. Yeah, talk about over-thinking a question. Guilty!

 

[tursiops]

I figured it was explained. And now I see why it can seem like an odd question to many of us who were taught to ignore any analysis sticker that may have already been put on the tank by someone else; I was taught to analyze and fill in the sticker myself, including my initials to indicate I personally performed the analysis. Of course I realize that in the real world some of us dive from boats using tanks that have been marked with an analysis sticker by dive op personnel and placed in the boat before we board. In that case, I suppose I would end up doing what the question suggests is the correct answer. Yeah, talk about over-thinking a question. Guilty!

Let's suppose you get your tank from a reputable shop and it says 33%. You analyze it and get 30%. What MOD do you write down? You can either ignore the sticker on the tank, or use it to cause you to analyze again, just to make sure you didn't screw up your analysis, and thus your MOD. The more important point is, analyze your own tank.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Let's suppose you get your tank from a reputable shop and it says 33%. You analyze it and get 30%. What MOD do you write down? You can either ignore the sticker on the tank, or use it to cause you to analyze again, just to make sure you didn't screw up your analysis, and thus your MOD. The more important point is, analyze your own tank.

No argument from me. It's just that I have never gotten a tank from any shop that already had an analysis sticker on it, so the question struck me as odd and confusing at first. But on further reflection, I recalled receiving supposedly pre-analyzed tanks on some dive boats.

 

[tursiops]

No argument from me. It's just that I have never gotten a tank from any shop that already had an analysis sticker on it, so the question struck me as odd and confusing at first. But on further reflection, I recalled receiving supposedly pre-analyzed tanks on some dive boats.

Membrane-filling shops often don't put stickers on. but partial-pressure shops usually do.

 

[gamon]

Where do you dive?

Perhaps where you dive is what makes you answer in this way?

I dive in the cold dark waters of the North Atlantic, to the clear tropical waters of the Caribbean. So, no that isn't it. I think of visibility as how clear the water is- and again I've seen huge effects of the bottom structure on the way current changes.

 

[gamon]

"After analyzing your EANx cylinder the next thing you do is _______?"
I label the tank first by MYSELF and then the MOD afterward. And there should not be anything written about the content in the tank!!!!!

Exactly. Quite often there isn't anything on the tank depicting the blend until AFTER the diver analyzes it. Which makes the question just BAD.

 

[gamon]

[Mod edit] You misremember the question, then criticize what you remember. The question asks, "After analyzing enriched air, you should compare your analysis with:" and then give 4 possible answers, 2 of which are obviously wrong, one is the sticker on the cylinder, and one is the maximum depth. How do you "compare" a percentage with a depth? You are over-thinking the question. The question and correct answer are almost a direct quote from the student manual.

Thank you for supplying the exact wording of the question. I'm not overthinking at all. There is a wrong assumption being made by the designer of the test that there is already a sticker on the cylinder- when quite often there is not. Choosing maximum depth- and then writing that in the log or on the tank is my next step as it is for most divers.

Are you deliberately being obtuse? In case you're not, please allow me to explain- the EAN percentage is directly related to maximum operating depth, which is typically provided in a chart along with the log that the diver will sign as required by standard operating procedure. While "comparing" isn't the best choice of word, it doesn't make the answer incorrect, and it's still a far better answer than comparing your results with a nonexistent sticker.

 

[tursiops]

Thank you for supplying the exact wording of the question. I'm not overthinking at all. There is a wrong assumption being made by the designer of the test that there is already a sticker on the cylinder- when quite often there is not. Choosing maximum depth- and then writing that in the log or on the tank is my next step as it is for most divers.

No one is "comparing" a percentage with a depth- are you deliberately being obtuse? In case you're not, please allow me to explain- the EAN percentage is directly related to maximum operating depth, which is typically provided in a chart along with the log that the diver will sign.

It does not ask "what is the next step."

 

[Lorenzoid]

Exactly. Quite often there isn't anything on the tank depicting the blend until AFTER the diver analyzes it. Which makes the question just BAD.

I agree. There's an underlying assumption in the question that, in the instance the question is referring to, someone else has put an analysis label on your tank. But tursiops seems to say this assumption is addressed in the course materials.