I was thinking about deep sea, specifically. If take an air-filled balloon deeper and deeper it will get smaller and smaller. If I take a water filled balloon, it doesn’t change much (I guess temperature may have a small effect on density?).
If I take a thin aluminium air filled sphere it will crush at a certain depth. If it’s water filled it stays intact.
Here’s my question: if I enclose myself in a metal sphere that’s filled with water (so that it doesn’t crush), will I be subjected to the pressure of the water above me? If yes, how is the water pressure transmitted through the rigid sphere? If it was an air filled sphere, it would crush me, but does the water in the sphere somehow protect me?
I think I just haven’t got my head around a few key principles…
In: 1
Ok, the sphere will compress under the pressure of the water caused by the weight of water and depth. How much it will compress will depend on the thickness and diameter and specific metal of the sphere. Since the water will now occupy a smaller volume inside the sphere, it’s pressure will increase, but not necessarily all the way up to outside pressure. The thinner the walls, the closer to outside pressure the water will be, the thicker the walls the lower the pressure of the water will be inside the sphere.
For something without much internal strength like a balloon or a very thin metal foil sphere, the inside pressure will be the same as the outside pressure.
Latest Answers