AEMCA Practice Exam

Which laws are relevant to understanding decompression sickness?

1. Boyle's Law and Henry's Law

2. Charles's Law and Avogadro's Law

3. Newton's Law and Kepler's Law

4. Faraday's Law and Kirchhoff's Law

The correct answer is: Boyle's Law and Henry's Law

The relevance of Boyle's Law and Henry's Law to understanding decompression sickness is rooted in how gases behave under varying pressure conditions, which is essential in the context of diving and altitude changes. Boyle's Law states that the volume of a gas is inversely proportional to the pressure exerted on it, provided the temperature remains constant. This law is crucial for understanding decompression sickness because as a diver ascends, the pressure decreases, causing the gases dissolved in the body tissues (like nitrogen) to expand. If the ascent is too rapid, this expansion can lead to the formation of bubbles, which may cause decompression sickness or "the bends." Henry's Law is equally important as it describes how the amount of a gas that can dissolve in a liquid is directly proportional to the partial pressure of that gas above the liquid. In the context of diving, when divers are at depths with higher pressure, a greater amount of nitrogen is dissolved in their blood and tissues. Upon ascending, if the pressure is reduced too quickly, the nitrogen becomes supersaturated, leading to bubble formation, which is a key mechanism behind decompression sickness. The other options pertain to principles that do not directly relate to the physical phenomena associated with decompression sickness. Charles's Law