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gould_k_ken <gould_k_ken@bt*.bt*.co*.uk*> wrote:
> Surely the decompression meter is *assuming* that you are 
> absorbing nitrogen from the air in your lungs which is at ambient
> pressure?  Which, on a free dive, it isn't.  A breath of air taken
> at the surface and held on a free dive to 30m doesn't result in your
> lungs compressing to one quarter of their size!  The musculature of
> the body resists the thoracic squeeze.  Think about what would 
> happen to Pippin free diving to over 100m?

Actually, from what I understand the lungs are quite capable of
compressing to a small fraction of their full volume.  This makes
physical sense too:

Assume a square foot of combined chest and back area (conservative).
Then to hold your lungs at 1 bar at 30m you need:

12^2 inches * 3 atm * 14.7 lbs/(in^2 atm) = 63504 lbs. pressure

This is beyond what bones and muscle can support, right?

Sorry for the english units of measurement.  

/Chris

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