4 ms·
Fat and air float. Muscle and bone sink. Your overall buoyancy depends on your particular combination of lung capacity, fat, muscle, and bone. Also, fresh wa
by 1e-9 7y ago
Fat and air float. Muscle and bone sink. Your overall buoyancy depends on your particular combination of lung capacity, fat, muscle, and bone. Also, fresh water is not as dense as salt water, so it is more difficult to float in.
Decomposition produces a variety of gases that increase buoyancy.
- bradknowles 7y agoIt’s not just bones and muscle. Fat has different densities, too. I have very high density fat. Although I’m more than 100 pounds overweight, I still sink like a rock when I get into the pool and exhale. If I inhale a lot of air into my lungs, I can usually keep my nose and mouth barely above water, but not much more. In contrast, my wife is also overweight, but her fat is low density. There is nothing I have found that is capable of making her sink. The times we have gone snorkeling, I have no problems diving and I have to work to surface. But she can’t dive for love or money, although she can get her face fully under water.