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The majority of gas used in most Scuba tanks is compressed air. This air is composed of the same elements everywhere - 21% Oxygen 79% Nitrogen. Advanced SCUBA divers may use an "enhanced" mixture of 32% (up to about 40%) Oxygen with the balance being Nitrogen. The number of divers who use a mixture like this is about 2 to 5% of all certified divers. Less than 1% of all divers may use a special Tri-mix of some rather exotic gases to allow very deep dives - however, it takes years of instruction and training to use these exotic mixes.
For normal "sport" diving, scuba tanks are filled with just plain old air! That's just the mix of gases you're likely breathing right now, and it contains 78% Nitrogen, 21% Oxygen, and 1% other gases.
But nitrogen can cause problems for divers ("bends" and "narcosis"). So for technical diving (below 100 feet), divers sometimes use Nitrox, less nitrogen than normal air, and more oxygen.
But even pure oxygen can be dangerous when breathed under pressure. In fact, breathing pure oxygen while scuba diving below 25 feet can be fatal!
So for very deep technical dives, the inert gas helium is often added into the gas mix; which can be heliox (oxygen & helium), or trimix (oxygen, helium, and nitrogen).
Divers generally use regular (but specially filtered) air for shallow (>100 ft) dives, and can use nitrox, trimix, heliox, or hydrox for deeper or extended dives. As you descend deeper, the pressure of the air you breathe increases, and this leads to greater concentrations of the gas in the blood. Scuba tanks use specially filtered air to remove potentially toxic compounds such as carbon monoxide. This is one reason why a normal compressed air generator should not be used to fill scuba tanks. At high concentrations, even oxygen becomes toxic, so therefore pure oxygen is a BAD gas to use underwater. Nitrogen also dissolves into the blood, causes nitrogen narcosis and the "bends" or decompression sickness and is a main problem for divers. This is the reason that nitrox, which has a higher percentage of oxygen and a lower one of nitrogen, is used. More exotic blends are more expensive and require multiple cylinders as well as a separate tank to travel through shallow depths safely. Trimix avoids some of the problems of nitrogen and oxygen at high pressures by adding in helium, which is not narcotic and is more easily removed from tissue. It allows you to dive to 100 m. Heliox is just oxygen and helium, and is therefore used for diving to depths of ~300 meters without much risk of decompression sickness. However, due to the price of helium, heliox is expensive. Hydrox, a mixture of hydrogen and helium, is currently being tested as an alternative to heliox. However, hydrogen - oxygen mixtures are extremely flammable, so care must be taken.
Typically, ordinary air (78% Nitrogen, 21% Oxygen, and other trace gasses) is used for diving. However, increasing the percentage of oxygen (a mix called nitrox) can increase the time and depth a diver may stay underwater during a given period without experiencing the harmful effects of decompression illness. However, increasing the percentage of oxygen also decreases the maximum depth a diver may descend, as oxygen becomes toxic if a diver breathes too high a percentage at a certain depth (typically about 200ft for standard air). To dive deeper, helium is added (a mix called trimix) to offset the percentage of oxygen.
In recreational diving, most divers use compressed air (as in the normal air we breather at the surface). Some divers are also trained to use special gas mixes called Nitrox which have a higher oxygen content and lower Nitrogen.
Professional (or commerical) divers tend to use more advance mixes such as Heliox or Trimix which combine Oxygen, Nitrogen and Helium.
Unless you've been specially trained to use any other form of air, it's the same as normal air, just compressed with impurities removed.
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Is scuba diving when the tanks are floating on top of the water if not what type of diving is it when the tanks float on top?
Its not really scuba diving but its considered scuba diving. Also known as the hookah system. its when you have a gas powered motor pumping fresh air to the person or person's diving below, there can be up to four people diving off of one hookah system. the benefit of this system is that there is no decompression time and you can be underwater pretty much all day if someone fills the gas tank on the engine pumping air. but you are kinda tied down to something so i don't think its true scuba diving.
Is there a certain temperature to keep tanks for scuba diving?
Under 25
Why does a scuba diver need increased gas in the air tank?
Scuba divers require increased air pressures in their air tanks while diving because the pressure on their bodies increases.
Where can you get scuba tanks refilled other than at scuba shops?
You could buy your own portable diving compressor, my dive buddy has one, there not silly expensive . You must get fills from a compressor designed for diving (breathing) as the air is filtered and moisture removed.
Why does the red sea have some of the best scuba diving in the world?
The red sea has the best scuba diving in the world because of the sink boats and tanks to build up the reef.
What is the downside of using a manifold setting while scuba diving with 2 tanks?
It increases failure points.
Mixture of gases for scuba diving tanks compared to normal atmospheric air?
Most SCUBA divers dive with compressed air, which is normal atmospheric air compressed into a scuba tank.
Is there a scuba diving club in Bronte Sydney?
There are scuba diving classes and popular scuba diving areas in Sydney, Australia. Scuba diving clubs are not advertised in that area.
What do scuba drivers do?
Scuba diving.
What is the scuba diving sports?
There are currently no professional sports that involve scuba diving.
Where can one purchase scuba diving books?
Amazon has a vast selection of books about scuba diving. Among these are informational books about scuba diving, as well as stories about scuba diving experiences. Amazon is also likely to have the best price.
Is scuba a verb?
No, but "scuba-diving" is a verb.
