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At a certain depth in the ocean, the absolute pressure is p. If you go to twice that depth (treating the water as incompressible)

O the absolute pressure will be 2p.
O the gauge pressure will increase but will not double.
O the absolute pressure will be greater than 2p.
O the absolute pressure will be less than 2p
O the gauge pressure will not change.

1 Answer

6 votes

Final answer:

In physics, diving into a depth twice as deep in the ocean does not simply double the pressure, but rather increases it by more than double due to the addition of water weight and atmospheric pressure. Option third is the correct answer.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question relates to the concept of pressure under water, which is a topic in physics. At a certain depth in the ocean, the absolute pressure is p. If you were to go to twice that depth, assuming water is incompressible, the absolute pressure will not be simply 2p, because pressure in a fluid increases linearly with depth. Given that the pressure increase due to water is added to the atmospheric pressure already present at the surface, the absolute pressure at twice the depth would be more than simply doubling the initial pressure.

Every 33 feet of salt water adds about 1 atmosphere (ATA) of pressure in addition to the atmospheric pressure at sea level. When a diver descends in the ocean, the change in pressure has a considerable effect on buoyancy and air volume due to Boyle's law. Therefore, going twice the depth increases the pressure by more than double the original pressure due to the addition of the water's weight and the pressure of air above.

As a result, the correct answer is: the absolute pressure will be greater than 2p.

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