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What precautions do scuba diver take to preventing problems with the helium?
Wiki User
∙ 11y ago
The only precautions are the same ones to take when diving on air. Helium is not the scary gas it has been made out to be. Usually the time limits will be reduced when diving with some helium in your gas for a "trimix" (oxygen, nitrogen, and helium) so the underwater time will need to be planned as with all dives. A diver must also have good control over their ascent and ascend slowly such as 9 meters/30 feet per minute as well as doing good safety stops. But again this should be done with all dives. The only time helium is a problem is when a diver cannot control their ascent and will just "pop" to the surface or a diver does not plan the reduced underwater time that results when using helium - although sometimes the time is not reduced ... it just depends on the exact blend of the gas being used.
Wiki User
∙ 11y ago
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What happens to the voice of a diver breathing in a mixture of oxygen and helium?
If helium replaces the nitrogen in normal air, the pitch of the diver's voice will increase considerably.
Industrial deep-sea divers must breathe a mixture of helium and oxygen to prevent a disorienting condition known as nitrogen narcosis If a diver's tank is filled with a helium-oxygen mixture to a pre?
Industrial deep-sea divers must breathe a mixture of helium and oxygen to prevent a disorienting condition known as nitrogen narcosis. If a diver's tank is filled with a helium-oxygen mixture to a pressure of 170 atmospheres and the partial pressure of helium is 110 atmospheres, the partial pressure of the oxygen is ? - is the question The answer is 60. Total pressure minus the partial pressure= 170-110= 60.
Why did a deep diver take oxygen mixed with helium instead of pure oxygen while going deep in sea for respiration?
Pure oxygen is toxic, especially at high pressures. Nitrogen is also toxic at high pressures and so is replaced with helium, which is completely inert.
Why helium is used for respiration in deep water instead if nitrogen?
To breathe underwater a diver must be supplied air at a pressure equal to that of the water surrounding the diver. However there is an upper limit of oxygen pressure above which the oxygen becomes biochemically toxic. Therefore, it is necessary to include something to dilute the oxygen in a diver's breathing gas. To satisfy normal breathing requirements at high pressures, it is necessary to supply between 0.2 and 1.5 atmospheres of oxygen with the rest of the balance made up by a non-toxic diluent (such as nitrogen). Air of course is a suitable breathing mixture for a diver based primarily on nitrogen as the oxygen diluent.Air is in fact the preferred breathing mixture for all dives to depths of less than about 150-200 fsw (feet of sea water). However, even at 150 fsw, when breathing air most divers feel the effects of nitrogen narcosis. Beyond this depth helium is preferred as the diluent and is in fact particularly well suited to the depth range immediately beyond air diving (e.g., 150-250 fsw). Helium does not cause narcosis at these pressures, is relatively inexpensive and is readily available. Moreover helium has a low density and is, therefore, easy to breathe at such pressures. There are problems with helium though, problems that are seriously amplified as diving depths approach those of the outer continental shelves and beyond. First there is the problem of communication. Everyone knows what breathing helium will do to your voice. Due principally, it is believed, to changes in the speed of sound in the gas medium, this effect is a sensitive function of depth. Helium speech at sea level is distorted, in a way that seems funny to both the listener and the speaker, but it is completely intelligible. At 200 fsw speech with Helium is still reasonably understandable. However, as depths increase to the range between 400 and 600 fsw the situation becomes more serious, and to someone trying to get a job done helium speech is no longer considered funny. Speech in this range is totally lost on an untrained ear, though anticipated statements can be understood by a listener familiar with the voice and the situation. So often, however, a sudden change in the topic of conversation throws everyone off, and it is necessary for the diver to speak slowly, repeat himself and to try to say things a different way. It can be done but it is slow and consequently expensive. The other problem is that Helium is about 4 times as good at conducting heat as nitrogen. Which when at the chilly depth of 500 fsw means that you are going to get VERY cold.
What is a Olympic diver?
A diver that competes in the Olympics or a diver that has competed in past Olympics.
What helps a diver breath?
Divers wear tanks full of oxygen to help them breathe while they are under water. When the tanks start to get empty, they resurface.
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