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Q: biology ( No Answer,   2 Comments )
Question  
Subject: biology
Category: Science > Biology
Asked by: matchette-ga
List Price: $10.00
Posted: 09 Nov 2003 13:47 PST
Expires: 09 Dec 2003 13:47 PST
Question ID: 274187
A person is more likely to recover from a near drowning in sea water
thav in fresh water. how would osmosis account for this
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There is no answer at this time.

Comments  
Subject: Re: biology
From: p2006-ga on 09 Nov 2003 15:41 PST
 
Since water would move out of lung cells in sea water (because of
osmosis), which has a higher salt content than the human body, there
won't be any excess water in the cells when the person is recovering.
In fresh water, osmosis would cause water to move into the cells,
making them swell up and burst. That would probably make it harder for
someone to recover because his body would need to repair lung tissue.
Subject: Re: biology
From: omniscientbeing-ga on 25 Nov 2003 15:51 PST
 
p2006-ga,

Temperature of the water also plays a big part in near-drowning
recoveries. Colder water holds more oxygen, therefore if you're going
to drown and have any chance to be successfully revived, the colder
the water the better. Remember the scene from the movie, The Abyss?
They were very deep under the ocean, so given the extremely cold, salt
water, the revival after drowning was possible (though only slightly).
Also, warmer seawater has a higher salt content than colder.

omniscientbeing-ga
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