Anupam- The Dreamer

The science behind the floatation of human body which enables a human to swim is just mind blowing! If you have practiced even a little bit, you would know that the body can never sink below the surface of water if the air is inhaled and held back. With air inside your body, you cannot sink even if you try to. That is an astonishing fact for those who don’t know to swim, but not anything surprising for those who know to swim.

And then, there is another amazing thing that if the air is breathed out, the body slowly starts to sink inside the water, if you stop paddling. On the face of it, it looks normal for any swimmer. But, the science behind is just incredible.

I am sure you must have read Archimedes’ principle in your high school. It says that- the buoyant force (upward force) on a body is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced (ρ × V × g ). When the body is floating near the surface of the water, this is a condition where the weight of the human body is perfectly equal to the buoyant force acting on it. What an incredible thing! If the fluid would have been other than water, then the situation would have been different. For example, if the fluid was heavier than water, then the body would always float like a woodlog. In that situation, every Tom Dick and Harry could become a swimmer. Like in the “Dead Sea” (near Jordan), where the concentration of salt is 10 times more than ocean water, the density (ρ) of salty water is more, hence anyone can float forever in the Dead Sea. But, if the fluid would have been lighter than water, then even Michael Phelps would have to put in more effort just to stay afloat, leave about swimming.

The astonishing thing here is how perfect the God has created the density of water and its proportion with human body. Just, one breath in and out, can make the whole difference whether you will stay afloat or sink. Just, one breath! Imagine how little difference is there in the displacement created by a human body with breath in and with breath out. But that little difference is sufficient to make you float and consequently to swim.

Isn’t that amazing? Ek saans ki keemat, tum kya jaano Ramesh babu 😀

And one more realization while swimming- you may have heard that “A ship doesn’t sink because of the water around it; it sinks because of the water that gets inside it”. Similarly, you don’t sink because of water inside your body, but when the outside water enters your mouth and nose. It is the same with life, isn’t it?