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Tank Air Volume
Knowing how much gas is in your cylinder is an important part of the dive planning process. You’ll use this information along with your surface air consumption rate (SAC rate) to find out if you have enough gas in your cylinder to safely get back to the surface with a reserve of one third of the tank volume.
To calculate your SAC rate, you will need to measure how much air you use in a surface dive, and then divide that number by the length of the dive in minutes. Once you have your SAC rate, you can use it to determine how much air you will use on a dive, and whether or not you have enough gas in your cylinder to make it back to the surface safely.
How to calculate Tank Air Volume
The volume of air in a pressurized scuba tank can be determined if you know the volume of the tank and its rated pressure. The rated pressure is usually written on the tank in pounds per square inch (psi).
The following equation can be used to calculate the volume of air in a tank:
Tank Air Volume Calculator
You can use this calculator to determine the actual air volume of a scuba tank based on the tank’s rated volume, rated pressure and actual pressure.
Check out this video for a detailed explanation of how to calculate the tank air volume.
Scuba Diving Calculators
Check out our other scuba calculators.
- Surface Air Consumption – calculate your air usage so you can accurately plan dives, by understanding how much air you can expect to use at varying depths – without the pressure influence.
- Calories Burned While Scuba Diving – determine how many calories you burn during your dives.
