dsteding
Contributor
ReefHugger:A drop in ambient does not directly cause bubble formation, but through the resulting change in the partial pressure. Hence the pressure gradient.
Yes it does, but not because of a gradient. Gas solubility is proportional to pressure. At high pressure, you can get more gas into solution, be it blood or tissue. Witness the coke can with bulging outsides when closed and bubbles coming out of solution when open. What is driving the bubble formation is a drop in pressure, not a gradient. What will drive diffusion between the coke and the air above it is a pressure gradient.
But I think I see where you are going. Gradients do come into play between a tissue and the blood. If the gradient is great enough, you will have diffusion that is fast enough that the blood will get over-saturated and bubbles will form.