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Recently I read a post that said hull reinforcement
hoops should be no more out of round than 1/8th of an inch.
How safe would they be if they were out of round by
1/4 of an inch? It wouldn't really matter would it because 1/4th of an inch
is
"close to" 1/8th isn't it? How about if they
were out by 1 inch? That would be ok wouldn't it because I consider 1/8th of an
inch to be "close to" 1 inch
Do we really need to measure a hull mathematically?
Can't we just look at it and say..."that looks close enough"?
How about if we leave a few air bubbles in our oil
compensated electric motors? It won't matter will it because they were "close
to" being devoid of air?
Please don't take my above questions seriously. I
am simply making a point.
It is puzzling to me that builders rely so
much on math to build pressure hull subs, and are very specific in their math
because if they are not
they might wind up crushed from implosion. Yet we
seem to readily accept that "close to" one atm is the same as 1 atm and we
continue for some
unknown reason to accept and continue the term "1
atm sub" even when we know it is not always mathematically
accurate in describing the true interior atmospheric
pressure
within a given sub. Are we just so used to the term
(1 atm) that it is comfortable or something to us even if inaccurate? Are
we too lazy to change it to an
accurate mathematical description? Are we
intimidated by the wealth of books that use the term inaccurate or not? Are we
afraid of being ridiculed if we take a stand for
accuracy in mathematical measurements of pressure?
We can mathematically calculate the distance from the earth to the sun. We can
use math to tell us what the gravitational pull of the moons of jupiter
are,
yet we continue to say a subs atmosphere is 1 atm
(14.7 lbs per sq in) when we know in the case of the
Hunley it is not, and as I have been told by other members, it
frequently is not with other so called 1 atm subs.
Do we as humans resist change and just want to
shove this term's mathematical inaccuracy under the carpet and pretend it does
not exist because it takes effort to make a new term?
I can almost hear Edward G. Robinson in the movie
"The Ten Commandments" saying to Charleston Heston...."Where's your math god now
Moses?"
Kindest regards,
Bill Akins.
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