4 Out swimming, you are 2m below the surface of the water looking at fish and co

Question

4 Out swimming, you are 2m below the surface of the water looking at fish and coral (obviously not here in Vancouver). You can't hold your breath any more but you want to keep looking! Wouldn't it be great if someone at the surface of the water lowered a steel tube to you so that you could breath air from the surface? Answer: No, this would kill you. Question why? Why wouldn't a long steel snorkel be a good idea? Second question: But elephants use their trunks as 2m long snorkels. How come they can do it?

Explanation / Answer

hydrostatic pressure at a depth of 2 m, P = Po + rho*gh
Po = 1.01*10^5 Pa ( atmospheric pressure)
rho = density of water = 1000 kg / m^3
h = 2 m
P = Po + 1000*9.81*2 = 19620 Pa
so additional pressure of 19.62 kPa will change the blood pressure and partial pressure of oxygen and nitrogen in lungs and may prove deadly
for Elephants this is not a problem as they have different blood pressure tolerances

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