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 <[email protected]> wrote: > 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 mixed drinks. Every good bartender knows that you put > the alcohol into the glass first so that when you add the water-based stuff > (tonic, seltzer, juice, etc.) the two mix naturally. If you pour the > alcohol *over* the watery things, you risk the alcohol "floating" rather > than mixing. We could go into the implications of low and high "proof" > alcohol, etc. > > But are you surprised that your bottle of wine, beer, or hard liquor > hasn't seperated before you even get to pour it? > > AS I think Doug mentioned, thermal energy alone is a good mixer... even > without the constant stirring of wind and convection... > > - Steve > > Sorry. Mixed up the weight of N and O. So my question should have > been, Why don’t 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! Other things being equal, don’t heavier things tend to sink when > mixed with lighter ones? **** > > ** ** > > N**** > > ** ** > > ** ** > > ** ** > > *From:* [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]<[email protected]>] > *On Behalf Of *Douglas Roberts > *Sent:* Tuesday, June 12, 2012 2:43 PM > *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group > *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics**** > > ** ** > > 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 percentage are: > [4] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatulence#cite_note-3>**** > > § Nitrogen <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen>: 20–90%**** > > § Hydrogen <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen>: 0–50%**** > > § Carbon dioxide <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide>: 10–30%*** > * > > § Oxygen <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen>: 0–10%**** > > § Methane <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methane>: 0–10%**** > > ** ** > > *4. ^ <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatulence#cite_ref-3>* "Human > Digestive > System"<http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-45361/human-digestive-system#294193.hook> > . *Encyclopædia Britannica*. Retrieved 2007-08-22.**** > > ** ** > > --Doug**** > > ** ** > > On Tue, Jun 12, 2012 at 12:33 PM, Roger Critchlow <[email protected]> wrote:**** > > 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 bottom.**** > > ** ** > > And why would anyone expect a mixture to spontaneously separate into pure > components? That happens in real life like where?**** > > ** ** > > As it happens, CO2 is the heaviest normal component and it does pool in > confined spaces often enough that CO2 alarms are available in hardware > stores. Propane, C3H8, weighs 44 gm/mole and is notorious for pooling in > confined spaces and then exploding, often in the bilge of a boat and > spectacularly.**** > > ** ** > > -- rec --**** > > ** ** > > On Tue, Jun 12, 2012 at 10:44 AM, Nicholas Thompson < > [email protected]> 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 us all. I asked the question of > stupid-answers-to-stupid-questions-asked-by-stupid-people.com and THEY > said, well, there’s just too much going on. N molecules and the O > molecules are just too busy, what with convection and windcurrents, and > all, to separate, even on still nights. Now, that business doesn’t prevent > cold molecules of Nitrogen and Oxygen to separate from warm ones, or wet > ones (not sure what that means) to separate from dry ones. I was hoping > that somebody on FRIAM could give some sort of a clue what kind of a > mixture AIR is? It is suddenly seeming kinda special. **** > > **** > > **** > > **** > > Nicholas S. Thompson**** > > Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology**** > > Clark University**** > > http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/**** > > http://www.cusf.org**** > > **** > > **** > > ** ** > > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org > > > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org > -- Doug Roberts [email protected] [email protected] http://parrot-farm.net/Second-Cousins <http://parrot-farm.net/Second-Cousins> 505-455-7333 - Office 505-670-8195 - Cell
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