Anyone?..
2007-09-19 17:07:38 · 4 answers · asked by Romina 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
A ballast tank is a compartment on a sub that holds water. When it takes on water, it reduces the buoyancy and can dive; when it expels the water, the sub is more buoyant and can float again. On a sub they normally have multiple ballast tanks; the main tank is real helpful in diving and surfacing and smaller tanks help trim or make minor adjustments in depth.
2007-09-19 17:15:19 · answer #1 · answered by BJ 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
To expand a little more on BJ's answer: The amount of air on a submarine is conserved. To dive, they pump the air out of ballast tanks and compress it into other tanks. For every pound of air pumped out of a ballast tank, several hundred pounds of water flow in. You're not changing the volume of the submarine or the amount of air it contains, but you dramatically increase the amount of water, and therefore the total mass contained in its volume. Reverse the process to surface.
Independent of this, if the submarine is moving, they can use the dive plane and the engines to steer it up or down, just as the rudder steers it left and right.
2007-09-20 01:21:18 · answer #2 · answered by Frank N 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
to add to BJ's answer... because of the bouancy of the air "pocket" versus the tank being filled with water the sub will sink or float. ie: air bubbles will go towards the surface due to their bouancy difference to the water surrounding them.
2007-09-20 00:18:55 · answer #3 · answered by FuriousRain007 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
air tanks I think.
2007-09-20 00:15:22 · answer #4 · answered by TheUber1337 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋