Why is it impossible to drown in the Dead Sea? The sea you can't drown in

Why is it impossible to drown in the Dead Sea? and got the best answer

Answer from Lady[guru]
The water of the Dead Sea is not just salty: it is a real brine, and even stronger than the one that housewives use to pickle cucumbers; The salinity of the Dead Sea is an order of magnitude higher than any other. Of course, there is not only NaCl in the water of the Dead Sea, but a whole bunch of all sorts of things; Unique and very expensive cosmetics and medicinal preparations are created from Dead Sea salts.
The Dead Sea, into which the single Jordan River flows, is gradually decreasing in size: the waters of this river are actively used for domestic and industrial needs, so less and less water reaches the sea every year, and evaporation from the surface of the sea is very intense. But, of course, the complete disappearance of this unique reservoir, if it happens, will take many centuries, if not millennia.
Another unusual feature of the Dead Sea: it is located 400 meters below the level of the World Ocean, which creates an increased concentration of oxygen; so the beaches are very popular place recreation - healing water and air attract both tourists and local residents(and from Jerusalem to the northern tip of the sea is only half an hour’s drive).
Bathing itself leaves unforgettable impression. The first thing that catches your eye is that 100-150 meters from the shore you can see not only the heads of the swimmers, but also the shoulders and even the upper chest. At first you think that you are in a very shallow place; but when you go into the water yourself, it turns out that already five meters away your legs don’t reach the bottom. Everything is explained very simply: the “brine” creates such a buoyant force that it is simply impossible to plunge into water even up to your neck, just as it is impossible to drown. In order to lie on the water, you do not need to make any effort at all; and it’s most comfortable to swim on your back, or more precisely, to lie with your belly up, your legs bent at the knees.
The water, by the way, is very warm: even in early November the temperature was about 30 degrees; I really don’t want to get out of the sea, but doctors do not recommend swimming for more than 15-20 minutes at a time. Swimming is also not recommended for people with certain diseases, although the Dead Sea water is healing for many diseases.

Answer from Oliya Marchenko[guru]
Because it is very salty!

Answer from Ekaterina Lomeeva[master]
Because it's so salty!!

Answer from Polina[active]
Because there is a lot of salt, and it keeps you on the surface. But if you want, you can drown :)

Answer from Jitska[guru]
The water of the Dead Sea has a very high salt content, it seems to “heavien” the water. and as we know, everything that is lighter than the mass of water is pushed out by water.

Answer from Daria[guru]
The concentration of salt is too high, so it is impossible to drown. Unless you hang a weight around your neck... then even the city will sink... but (excuse the expression)

Answer from Darya[guru]
The Dead Sea has a very high salt content, and it pushes the body to the surface! I myself was at the Dead Sea and there, if you are not thrown to the surface of the water, then rejoice!

Answer from YESS[guru]
You can only choke... and such cases have happened. But drowning, in the sense of “going under water,” is impossible, since the concentration of salts in the water of the Dead Sea is more than 30 percent. This is 10 times more than in sea ​​water. It’s even impossible to dive there, because the water pushes everyone to the surface.

Answer from Alla Nikiforenko[active]
Yes it is salty))

Answer from Maria Mikhailova[active]
There definitely were cases!!))) But you can’t drown, because it’s very salty!

Answer from Nikolai Grigorievich[guru]
The Dead Sea (Hebrew - sea of ​​salt) is a salt lake between Israel and Jordan. It is the saltiest lake in the world. The Dead Sea coast is the lowest landmass on Earth: it is 417 meters below sea level. Several dry streams and the Jordan River flow into the Dead Sea. The sea is called dead because, due to its high salt content, neither fish nor other organisms can live in it (with the exception of some types of bacteria at the mouth of the Jordan River) and therefore it is impossible to drown in it. According to the Bible, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were located on the shores of the Dead Sea. Dead Sea - unique place on globe. Known since biblical times, it is located 417 meters below sea level Mediterranean Sea and is the lowest point on the surface of the Earth. This reservoir continues to decline today. Since the concentration of salts in it is the highest on the globe, there are no fish, no shellfish, no protozoa, no algae. But the minerals of the Dead Sea can restore youth and health to a person and have the highest therapeutic effect in the world. There is no analogue to them. Healing mud is a product of the vital activity of the only and unique representative of living beings living in a concentrated salt solution - an archaeobacterium, which has apparently been preserved from the time of the origin of life on the planet. The reserves of healing substances in the Dead Sea are inexhaustible (the weight of metal salts is about 50 billion tons, and the weight of 21 types of minerals is about 50 billion tons). The shores of the strange reservoir can also be considered dead: for a considerable extent they are covered only with a crust of dried salt, which does not allow grass and trees to grow. The age of the sea as it is now known is more than 15 thousand years.
The Dead Sea is actually called big lake, which is 76 kilometers long, up to 18 kilometers wide and maximum depth 400 meters. This body of water is part of the Great Syrian-African Rift. When the eastern mountain formations moved north 105 kilometers, the geological strata in this place formed a deep valley. The sea itself consists of two basins - the northern, up to 185 meters deep, and the southern, where average depth is only 6.5 meters. The bed for them is a two-kilometer layer of salt left after the ancient Lashon Sea finally dried up. At the bottom of the dead reservoir, in addition, there is a 100-meter sedimentary salt-mud layer. Moreover, the thickness of sediments in the south is much thicker. The smaller, southern basin is connected to the northern one through an isthmus. About three million years ago, the Mediterranean Sea stretched from the Sea of ​​Galilee 40 kilometers south, reaching the current shore of a unique dead body of water. Its level, by the way, was already about 180 meters below the level of the Mediterranean Sea. About two million years ago, this bay became an inland body of water. Its main source of nutrition was the fresh waters of the Jordan River and its tributaries, several small rivers and flood waters carrying large quantities sand and other sediments. It was they who formed the sandy valley of the Jordan River. Now only she connected Galilee and Dead Sea. 6,000 years ago, the level of the unique reservoir dropped again, as evidenced by the underwater canyons. Three thousand years later, the Dead Sea was already 360 meters below the level of the Mediterranean. And since 1950, when Jordan and Israel began to divert water from the Jordan River, the flow fresh water V salt Lake reduced by half. Now the evaporation of liquid from the surface of the reservoir significantly exceeds the supply from all sources, so its level is constantly decreasing.

Answer from Yavshan Makhmudov[newbie]
Despite the fact that the density of water in the Dead Sea is 84 percent higher than the density of the human body, you can drown in it, for example, along with the ship in a locked cabin, in a crashed plane, etc. From 1947 to 2008, 159 deaths were recorded . 44 were drunk people who fell face down into the sea, and 41 people were from Russia, and 3 were from Ukraine. What is especially sad is that 64 cases involve choked children, 39 of which are helpless babies. Sometimes people drown simply because they believe that it is impossible to drown in this sea; they are called “Balakha moigzhi” - victims of delusion. Rescue services are currently operating on the beaches of Ahmbulla and Gesheta. Drownings have stopped.
We must not forget that litters of kittens and puppies have long been drowned in the Dead Sea.

Answer from Mamont X[newbie]
if you are far from the shore, you can completely drown

One of the most unique creations of nature is located on the border of Israel and Jordan. Perhaps in the whole world you will not find a body of water that is equally significant for the history of mankind.

Over the centuries, the Dead Sea has played a huge historical, cultural and religious role, so today it is not only popular destination for lovers beach holiday and wellness treatments.

It occupies an extremely important place on the maps of the ancient Egyptians, Arabs and Jews. In addition, numerous traditions of these peoples are associated with it. We bring to your attention the most interesting information about the Dead Sea, which you may have never heard of.

Endorheic salt lake

In his book “Innocents Abroad or the Progress of the New Pilgrims,” Mark Twain described his impression of the Dead Sea: “An oppressive silence hung over him. And you involuntarily begin to think about funerals and death.”

The Dead Sea gets its grim name from its lifeless landscape and the almost complete absence of underwater organic life. The salinity level of the water here is approximately nine and a half times higher than ocean water. No algae, no fish, no other large Marine life are not able to survive at such a colossal concentration of salt. Only at the bottom of the sea were some species of bacteria and fungi that adapted to the extreme environment discovered.

In fact, the Dead Sea is an endorheic salt marsh lake, that is, it is in no way connected by waterways with other seas and oceans and therefore has no natural drainage. As a result of intense evaporation of fresh water coming from the Jordan River and several streams, a huge amount of sodium chloride has accumulated at the bottom of the sea over many centuries.

The lowest landmass on the planet

The water level in the Dead Sea is approximately four hundred and twenty meters below sea level. Thus, the local coast is the lowest landmass on the planet. The longest Israeli highway, No. 90, crosses the entire country from the northern border with Lebanon to the southern border with Egypt, and is considered the lowest road in the world, as its section runs along the western shore of the Dead Sea. Highway 90 also has a reputation as one of the most... dangerous roads in the world due to the large number of road accidents reported here.

Unique climate

Thanks to the exceptional geographical location Among desert and mountains, the Dead Sea has a unique microclimate. So, about three hundred and thirty days a year there is clear sunny weather here. The climate is characterized by low humidity and low precipitation. During the year, the temperature ranges from 15 to 38 degrees Celsius. But the main thing is the only place in a world where even prolonged exposure to the sun is safe sunburn thanks to natural protection against ultraviolet rays.

The Dead Sea is difficult to swim in, but you can drown

Due to the high salt content, any person will stay afloat without much effort, so the Dead Sea will certainly appeal to those who have never bothered to learn how to swim. But good swimmers should not forget that they are unlikely to be able to arrange a freestyle swim in a salty solution, since a person gets the impression that he is constantly wearing a life jacket.

The Dead Sea ranks second among Israeli bodies of water in terms of the number of deaths. It may seem strange, but the risk of drowning in the salty sea is not a fiction at all. It turns out that it is incredibly difficult for a person to move by swimming, so he can unintentionally take an uncomfortable, awkward and even dangerous position. In addition, you should not swallow salt water in large quantities, as this can cause poisoning and lead to kidney disease.

Healing properties of the Dead Sea

Since time immemorial, people have known about the miraculous healing properties of the Dead Sea. Aristotle, Cleopatra and other great celebrities visited these lands to undergo health and rejuvenation procedures. On top of one of the rocks, above south coast The Dead Sea is located ancient fortress Masada. King Herod the Great of Judea built it for himself and his family in 25 BC. King Herod loved to visit the Dead Sea area for the hot springs. He used the fortress not only as a refuge in case of danger, but also as a place of rest for soul and body.

The air of the Dead Sea is unique; it is maximally saturated with oxygen, which has a beneficial effect on mood and overall well-being. At the same time, the concentration of bromine, known for its pleasant relaxing effect and calming effect on the nervous system, exceeds the usual concentration several times. Nowadays, numerous spa centers, hotels and clinics have been built along the entire coast of the Dead Sea, where vacationers can experience the healing effects therapeutic mud, salt and local climate. Scientists, doctors and cosmetologists are studying various treatment options for skin diseases. Additionally, Dead Sea salt is a popular ingredient in many lotions and creams.

Biblical predictions

Modern scientists have tried to search in the Dead Sea area for the remains of the famous biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The exact location of the cities is now unknown, but experts have little doubt that these cities were flooded by the Dead Sea.

According to the Bible, cities were destroyed by God for the numerous sins of their inhabitants. Only the family of righteous Lot escaped punishment. The Old Testament describes how, during the departure of Lot and his family from Sodom, sulfur poured from heaven to earth. Lot and his family were forbidden to look back, but Lot's wife disobeyed, for which she was turned into a pillar of salt.

The Bible says that the water of the Dead Sea will one day become fresh. Perhaps this prophecy has already begun to come true, since, according to recent research, fresh water springs have appeared at the bottom of the Dead Sea.

Bitumen Lake

One of the ingredients that the ancient Egyptians used when embalming mummies during burial rituals was asphalt. The Egyptians mined it in the Dead Sea. The ancient Greek historian and geographer Strabo wrote about the fact that there is a lot of natural asphalt in the Dead Sea. In those days, the sea was called a bitumen lake, since asphalt was considered more important than salt.

Today, potassium carbonate continues to be mined at the Dead Sea. known to people Since ancient times, potash has been used as a fertilizer. This is a very profitable modern business.

Historical find

In 1947, a shepherd boy accidentally discovered one of the most significant archaeological finds of the 20th century, the so-called Qumran manuscripts or Dead Sea Scrolls, in a cave near the Dead Sea. Well-preserved biblical and non-biblical manuscripts have allowed scholars to adjust the historical view of religious events to take into account new data.

The water level in the Dead Sea is falling dramatically

The maximum depth of the Dead Sea is just over three hundred meters, but over the past hundred years the water level has dropped by twenty-five meters. Environmental studies show that the sea could dry up completely within fifty years if appropriate measures are not taken. In order to stop the drying process, Israel and Jordan teamed up to implement a joint project to transfer the waters of the Red Sea to the Dead Sea.

The sea is located just 10 kilometers from Jerusalem. As soon as the city ends, the road immediately begins to go sharply down. Ears are blocked often and noticeably. And it’s not surprising, because it’s phenomenal natural miracle located at more than 400 meters below sea level. It is alleged that this is the place where two continents break - Eurasia and Africa, which are moving away from each other. The Dead Sea gradually descends into the resulting fault. Its possible fate is complete disappearance.

The road to the sea runs through a real desert. We, as was said, were very lucky that there was no dry wind. According to eyewitnesses, it is then completely impossible to breathe (especially for asthmatics) from the columns of salt dust. To be honest, looking out the window of the bus at a rather bleak landscape, where only occasionally one could come across ruined Bedouins, the first thing that comes to mind is the question of what people are fighting for here. There is nothing! Jews joke that Moses led them through the desert for 40 years with one goal: to finally find a place where there is no oil.

The sea is not amazing in size. The opposite shore, which already belongs to Jordan, is clearly visible. All the infrastructure for recreation on the Dead Sea is located there; on the Israeli side there are only more or less sanitized beaches. But there is one minus in Jordan. The mud gradually hardens, where it is actually petrified. In Israel, numerous “mischievous little hands” do not allow it to freeze. The surface of the water, however, is very deceptive because of this. There are quite impressive (and in some places deep) funnels everywhere under the water. These are places where the product was recently “mined”. You can make a very serious noise. And I don’t really want to wet my face. When salt gets on the mucous membranes, it makes you laugh. It is necessary to immediately wash it off with clean water, fortunately there are enough showers on the shore.

The safest way to move through the water is to lie on your stomach and move your hands along the bottom. If your hands do not reach the bottom, then row lightly. One thing... If the bottom is far away, you will hardly be able to get back on your feet. At least it didn't work out for me. Short attempts ended in loss of coordination and salt getting into all the unwanted places. I had to row much faster to the shore, and I had to gallop along the shore to the shower at a decent pace.

Dirt is amazing and fun. According to the initiates, it is made healing by a certain archaeobacterium that has survived to this day from time immemorial. This is the only living organism found here. It spreads well and does not tug on the skin when it dries. It washes off just as well and instantly. At the same time, water lingers on the skin and resembles glycyrin. The feeling from such a SPA is amazing. It’s funny to watch how a crowd of people first concentrates on picking real poop out of the water. Then he anoints it with concentration and walks around proudly in it. And after flushing, it also strokes itself for a long time and with pleasure in all imaginable and inconceivable places. And the pleasure cannot be expressed in words!

Bathing takes place under the watchful eye of security.

"Extraction" is underway. Everything I pick up is yours! One such piece, by the way, now lives in my bathroom.

You can drown in any body of water if you are unlucky. Even experienced swimmers sometimes die when they are unable to cope with the strong current. Russia, as you know, is washed by the waters of 15 seas, if you count it together with the Caspian Sea, which some researchers define as a huge lake. Not all bodies of water are suitable for swimming due to climatic features our country. However, every year many careless tourists die during summer holiday. So which Russian sea is the easiest to drown in?

Dangerous currents

The greatest threat to swimmers is represented by rip currents that occur from time to time near the shore. This phenomenon in English is called rip current. Such flows are also dangerous for people who know how to swim well, not to mention the bulk of tourists. Most Russians do not know what to do if they find themselves in a current that is being carried away from the shore.

Rip currents occur especially often in shallow waters with gently sloping banks that border sand spits and islets. Therefore, the warm and gentle Sea of ​​Azov sometimes poses a real threat.

It’s just that during low tide the water does not move away from the shore gradually; in some places this natural process is delayed by shallows and sand spits. When the tide begins, the water pressure increases, and a reverse flow forms near the shore - a kind of fast river inside the sea. This current moves at speeds of up to 3 meters per second. A swimmer caught in it cannot fight the powerful current, quickly loses strength and falls into panic, which can result in death.

Under no circumstances should you go into the sea, even waist-deep, if you see a section of water of a different color, where it is seething, foaming and clearly moving from the shore. This can keep you out of trouble. But if you get into reverse current, there is no need to panic. The fact is that the width of such dangerous areas of the water area usually does not exceed 50 meters. Just don't row towards the shore, exhausting yourself in the hope of rescue. Don't fight the current. Try to swim parallel to the shore to get out of the rip current zone, where you can escape.

Threat level

Reverse currents occur in all seas where there are gentle sandy beaches with strong ebbs and flows. In Russia, the most dangerous is, as we mentioned above, the Sea of ​​Azov. The local waters are strongly dependent on the winds, which blow from the northeast, then from the southwest, often changing their direction to the opposite. Following the winds, currents also rush.

The Caspian Sea is also characterized by strong ebbs and flows. In the area of ​​Dagestan beaches, so many vacationers die every holiday season that people even began to hear rumors about criminal divers who supposedly drown people on purpose in order to then sell their bodies for organs. However, these rumors are regularly denied by employees of the local department of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, who know that reverse currents are to blame for everything.

In the Sea of ​​Japan that washes Far East In Russia, the tides are also quite strong - due to the influence of the Pacific Ocean. Sharp fluctuations in water level can cause powerful currents, so vacationers on popular resorts Primorye should also be careful.

One should not discount the Black Sea, whose surface waters are constantly in motion under the influence of winds. In addition, there are as many gently sloping sandy beaches with shallows and islands as in neighboring Azov.

Perhaps the calmest of all the seas washing Russia is the Baltic. The best place to learn to swim here is for those tourists who have not yet mastered this useful skill. The water disturbance in the Baltic is insignificant, and the slow ebbs and flows, lasting from 12 hours to a day, change the coastline by no more than 20 centimeters. True, the obvious disadvantage of this sea is the low water temperature: even in summer it does not warm up above +20°C.

"Light" water

Despite the dangerous currents, sea water, as a rule, literally “pushes” the human body to the surface. And the more salts dissolved in it, the safer the bathing. For example, in the Dead Sea, located in Israel, it is impossible to drown precisely for this reason. However, not all Russian seas salty enough that swimming in them would be relatively safe. In some of them, the water is so “light” that it can even be considered almost as fresh as in rivers and lakes.

Unfortunately, the Baltic is seriously inferior to other seas in this indicator. Its water, according to experts, can even be drunk with almost no harm to health. Salinity on the surface is only 2-3%. In such “light” water there is always a danger of drowning.

The Sea of ​​Azov is also far from salty. It is 3 times fresher than Atlantic Ocean, For example. The composition of the local water is poor in chlorine and sodium, but there are a lot of calcium ions, various sulfates and carbonates. Therefore, in the event of an emergency, doctors do not prohibit drinking a little Azov water once.

The Black Sea is a little saltier than the Azov Sea, but still not enough to make swimming in it relatively safe.

The mineralization of the Caspian waters depends on the specific region: the further north, the “lighter” the water. In the south of this sea, each liter can contain from 60 to 100 grams of different salts. However, the Russian coast is located in the northern part of the Caspian Sea, where swimming is as dangerous as in the Black Sea. Average water salinity huge lake is 10-11%.

The safest from this point of view is the Sea of ​​Japan. Its mineralization is comparable to the average level of the World Ocean. The degree of salinity varies from 33.7% to 34.3% - this is not much less than in Pacific Ocean. So for residents and guests of Primorye, swimming does not pose a big threat; the water there is “heavy” enough to push a person’s body to the surface.

Bottom relief

Despite the possibility of dangerous currents and the “lightness” of water, the Sea of ​​Azov has its advantages. Its underwater terrain is quite safe. Flat beaches, consisting of sand or small shell rock, transform into gently sloping plains under water. The sea depth of 5 meters is reached only at a distance of 2 km from the coastline.

Baltic sandy beaches are also safe according to this indicator. The bottom here is mostly flat. Its terrain becomes rocky and dangerous only in the north of the reservoir, where there are no resort areas.

The Black Sea has been well explored for generations Russian tourists. Its bottom is also relatively safe. Northern part The coastline washing Russia has a wide shelf strip where the water depth is quite shallow. But the southern and eastern beaches The Black Sea, located in Turkey and Georgia, has a steeper slope, and the bottom topography there can be rugged underwater canyons. However, off the coast of Crimea and Krasnodar region The depth of the sea increases quite sharply when compared with the Azov Sea. Thus, already 2 km from the coast the 500-meter mark can be overcome.

The relief of the underwater part of the Sea of ​​Japan is characterized by heterogeneity. Four lithospheric plates “meet” here: North American, Pacific, Eurasian and Philippine. Therefore, there are several large basins and ridges at the bottom. Swimming should be done with caution. Already close to the shore, steep slopes may begin in some places.

As you can see, it is difficult to name one particular sea as the most suitable for swimming. Everywhere has its pitfalls (literally) and dangers. During their vacation, tourists should take into account the characteristics of each of the seas.

Such a sea exists in a country known to mankind since ancient times. This is the famous Dead Sea of ​​Palestine. Its waters are unusually salty, so much so that nothing can live in them. Living being. The hot, rainless climate of Palestine causes strong evaporation of water from the surface of the sea. But it only evaporates pure water, dissolved salts remain in the sea and increase the salinity of the water. That is why the water of the Dead Sea contains not 2 or 3 percent salt (by weight), like most seas and oceans, but 27 percent or more; Salinity increases with depth. So, a quarter of the contents of the Dead Sea are salts dissolved in its water. The total amount of salts in it is estimated at 40 million tons.

The high salinity of the Dead Sea determines one of its features: the water of this sea is much heavier than ordinary sea water. It is impossible to drown in such a heavy liquid: the human body is lighter than it.

The weight of our body is noticeably less than the weight of an equal volume of densely salty water and, therefore, according to the law of swimming, a person cannot drown in the Dead Sea; he floats in it, just as a chicken egg floats in salt water (which sinks in fresh water)

Humorist Mark Twain, who visited this lake-sea, describes with comic detail the extraordinary sensations that he and his companions experienced while swimming in the heavy waters of the Dead Sea:

“It was a fun swim! We couldn't drown. Here you can stretch out on the water to your full length, lying on your back and folding your arms across your chest, with most of your body remaining above the water. At the same time, you can completely raise your head... You can lie very comfortably on your back, raising your knees to your chin and clasping them with your hands, but you will soon turn over, since your head is outweighed. You can stand on your head and from the middle of your chest to the end of your legs you will remain out of the water, but you will not be able to maintain this position for long. You cannot swim on your back, moving any noticeably, since your legs stick out of the water and you have to push off only with your heels. If you swim face down, then you move not forward, but backward. The horse is so unstable that it can neither swim nor stand in the Dead Sea - it immediately lies on its side.”

In the picture you see a man sitting quite comfortably on the surface of the Dead Sea; the large specific gravity of water allows him to read a book in this position, protected by an umbrella from the burning rays of the sun.

The water of Kara-Bogaz-Gol (a bay of the Caspian Sea and no less) has the same extraordinary properties salty water Lake Elton, containing 27% salts.

Those patients who take salt baths have to experience something of this kind. If the salinity of the water is very high, as, for example, in Starorusskie mineral waters, then the patient has to make a lot of effort to stay at the bottom of the bath. I heard a woman being treated at Staraya Russa, complained indignantly that the water was “positively pushing her out of the bath.” It seems that she was inclined to blame it not on Archimedes’ law, but on the resort administration...

The degree of salinity of water in different seas varies somewhat, and accordingly, ships do not sit equally deep in sea water. Perhaps some of the readers happened to see on board the ship near the waterline the so-called “Lloyd’s Mark” - a sign showing the level of the maximum waterlines in water of varying densities. For example, the load line shown in the following figure indicates the level of the maximum waterline:

Center>
Load line on board the ship. Brand designations are made at the waterline level. For clarity, they are also shown separately in enlarged form. The meaning of the letters is explained in the text.

In our country, these stamps have been introduced as mandatory since 1909.

Let us note in conclusion that there is a type of water that, even in its pure form, without any impurities, is noticeably heavier than ordinary water; its specific gravity is 1.1, i.e. 10% more than ordinary; therefore, in a pool with such water, a person who did not even know how to swim could hardly drown. Such water was called “heavy” water; its chemical formula is D 2 O (the hydrogen included in its composition consists of atoms twice as heavy as ordinary hydrogen atoms, and is designated by the letter D). “Heavy” water is dissolved in small quantities in ordinary water: in a bucket drinking water it contains about 8 g.