Buoyancy

Buoyancy / noun :

First Page Mentioned (By Name) : ch. “The Underwater Citadel of Yonaguni” – pg. 113

Likely from the Middle-Dutch ' boeie ' or Old French ' boie ' (to be tethered, or held in place), it is a word with a history that traveled throughout Europe, finally evolving through Spain to become buoyancy, which means: 'to become lighter than water'. Buoyancy is especially important for anything that requires movement through water, as it determines how deep you sink, and how quickly you can rise to the surface. If you are lighter, or less dense, than water, the water will wish to sink, pushing you up! The deeper you are in the water, the heavier/denser the water is, and the faster you will gain speed, as you are pushed up to a point where you are as dense/weigh as much as the surrounding water. Bubbles, for instance, are extremely buoyant, as they are air trapped within the tension of water molecules. Unable to disperse into the water, they are forced up by the water pressure pressing and traveling down around the bubbles, where it builds beneath to press them up to the surface. As you can now see, controlling the buoyancy of an object is extremely important, and a fundamental source of knowledge for anyone working with water, magical or otherwise.

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