Let's call it interesting questions it never occurred to me to ask, Nick.
Pamela
On Jun 12, 2012, at 10:44 AM, Nicholas Thompson wrote:
So, somebody asked me, in my role as a weather nerd, how come the nitrogen in
the atmosphere doesn’t all fall to the bottom on still nights and suffocate
For a start the density of oxygen is higher than nitrogen. Secondly
gravity is not strong enough to overcome the zipping around of the
molecules of gas that naturally mix together due to thermal energy
(temperature). It takes a lot of effort and processing to separate
atmospheric gasses (see
Nick --
N2 weighs 28 gm/mole, O2 weighs 32 gm/mole, Ar weighs 40 gm/mole, CO2
weighs 44 gm/mole, and H2O weighs 18 gm/mole.
Why would anyone expect the lighter components of a mixture to fall down
more than the heavier ones? If anything, you'd expect the heavier ones to
concentrate toward the
Let's not ignore temperature: my farts are a good 20 degrees F above
ambient (at present), and tend to rise before mixing into the unfortunate
nearby environs. And, just in case you were wondering what the composition
of a fart was:
The major components of the flatus, which are odorless, by
ahh Doug... I *knew* we could count on you!
Let's not ignore temperature: my farts are a good 20 degrees F above
ambient (at present), and tend to rise before mixing into the
unfortunate nearby environs. And, just in case you were wondering
what the composition of a fart was:
The major
Thanks, Steve, I just got back a couple of weeks ago:
http://mc-california-trip-2012.blogspot.com/
Yes, I had a gas...
--Doug
On Tue, Jun 12, 2012 at 1:09 PM, Steve Smith sasm...@swcp.com wrote:
ahh Doug... I *knew* we could count on you!
Let's not ignore temperature: my farts are a good
A really spectacular (and somewhat dangerous) demo involves what I
would guess is the densest gas of all, uranium hexafloride, with a
mass of 352 gm/mole. Remember that at equal temperature and pressure a
mole of any gas whatsoever occupies a volume of 22.4 liters, so the
grams/mole is
I hate following references to any encyclopaedia... even (especially?!)
Wikipedia...
The rabbit hole to be found there is an infinite labyrinth (maze?) with
bits of cheese to keep me going at every turn!
I learn something new everytime... Who knew Archaea? Really? I was
still in school
Sorry. Mixed up the weight of N and O. So my question should have been,
Why dont we wake up in a layer of oxygen on still nights?
Which brings us to your question about what would make me expect that a
mixture would separate out into its lighter and heavier components. You
tell me!
Nick -
I think Bruce just gave a good calibration on this with his great
description not only of why or why not to breathe Uranium Hexaflouride
(cuz you will have to stand on your head to empty it from your lungs!)
but also the relative density of the gasses in question.
Try the analogy of
I'm (patiently) waiting for this discussion to morph into the philosophy
of mixing.
Which reminds me: I haven't had a good Manhattan in a while.
--Doug
On Tue, Jun 12, 2012 at 1:44 PM, Steve Smith sasm...@swcp.com wrote:
Nick -
I think Bruce just gave a good calibration on this with his
BasherWo the Science Ninja does it again!
Bruce, that was a killer lecture, especially about the He/UF6 thing...
I always wondered if there were *another* example of the speed of sound
in gas thing to complement the helium experiment virtually everyone has
tried (or at least observed).
Doug -
I'm (patiently) waiting for this discussion to morph into the
philosophy of mixing.
Not really patiently... I can hear your riding booted foot tapping all
the way from Nambe!
And don't tempt me... this does call for a riff on the mixing of
Philosophies and analogies of He and UF6 in
On 6/12/12 1:13 PM, Douglas Roberts wrote:
Thanks, Steve, I just got back a couple of weeks ago:
http://mc-california-trip-2012.blogspot.com/
Yes, I had a gas...
Looks like a great trip... I haven't done a long ride in decades...
round trip to ABQ still qualifies. If I had your bike I'd
I realize that I didn't address one of the questions (or one of the
possible questions): Why don't all the air molecules just fall to the
ground and stay there? In case anyone was wondering about that
question, the answer is that the air molecules DO fall toward the
ground, but they continually
I hadn't thought of the physiological issue you raise, but I would
expect a molecule of UF6 to be far too large to pass from the lungs
into the blood stream. Good point, though.
Bruce
On Tue, Jun 12, 2012 at 1:49 PM, Steve Smith sasm...@swcp.com wrote:
BasherWo the Science Ninja does it again!
Again... amazing detail here Bruce... thanks...
I forgot to mention to Nick that planetary atmospheres *do* vary over
altitude and even stratify. So your intuition is not wrong in
quality... just in quantity. Here's to your intuition! (Raising a
poorly mixed Manhattan)
My senior project
Re: slower vs faster when low on gas, I also have the urge to speed up.
But on this bike I've got the computer that tells me my current MPG, and
expected (moving average) range on remaining gas, so it was fairly easy to
find the most economical speed that would get me there.
The upright/pub food
Sort of adds a new spin to Brownian motion, doesn't it...
On Tue, Jun 12, 2012 at 1:09 PM, Steve Smith sasm...@swcp.com wrote:
ahh Doug... I *knew* we could count on you!
Let's not ignore temperature: my farts are a good 20 degrees F above
ambient (at present), and tend to rise before
Doug -
Re: slower vs faster when low on gas, I also have the urge to speed
up. But on this bike I've got the computer that tells me my current
MPG, and expected (moving average) range on remaining gas, so it was
fairly easy to find the most economical speed that would get me there.
How *do*
SS wrote:
But are you surprised that your bottle of wine, beer, or hard liquor hasn't
seperated before you even get to pour it?
NST REPLIES:
Well I guess I am surprised by that. Whiskey (etc) is just a mixture of
alcohol and water,no? I suspect that there is some sort of
Chem 101, Nick. A solution is a liquid into which a solid has
been dissolved. A mixture does not involve dissolution. Whiskey is a
mixture of water, ethyl alcohol, and various aromatic
hydrocarbon volatiles. In order for them to separate, they would have to
be immiscible.
Which obviously, they
And what is the relation between Imiscible and Irascable?
I ordered a Manhattan tonight... it disappointed me... do you know
Brooklyn Cocktail?
And Nick... I don't know that we've determined your drink yet. When
do you return from the swampy hot places that turn to frigid cold places?
-
On 6/12/12 5:43 PM, Nicholas Thompson wrote:
And whiskey goes well with some mixers as well:
I must now go atone to the whiskey gods and undergo a number of
purification rituals for having read that.
Carl
FRIAM Applied
Nick -
I'd like to interject here that your original question about the mixing
(or not) of atmospheric components was a very legitimate question...
I hope (many) of the responses you got (Bruce's in particular) helped
dispel the mystery of what we all know circumstantially (though I'm not
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