Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-07-08 Thread Robert J. Cordingley
I think a solid 'dissolved' in another solid is an alloy, e.g. steel (Fe and C), brass (Zn and Cu) tho' they have to be melted first. BTW something funny happens with ethanol and water since they can't ultimately be separated by distillation (let alone gravity fields) because of the formation o

Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-07-08 Thread Arlo Barnes
> > The innocence of many of your questions as posed should be more overtly > valued... many of us are busy asking (quietly) similar or related > questions. > Amen! A thing to think about re: mixing of alcohol and water is that both are polar molecules, and thus mutually attracted, which no doubt

Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-06-14 Thread Bruce Sherwood
Another example of a top-of-the-atmosphere special layer is of course the ozone (O3) layer, continually produced by ultraviolet light but unstable. These "surface" phenomena don't have anything to do with how nitrogen, oxygen, and uranium hexafluoride are distributed throughout the atmosphere. Bru

Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-06-14 Thread Greg Sonnenfeld
t; but not enough understanding of it's foundations! > > - Steve > > > 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

Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-06-13 Thread Bruce Sherwood
Okay, there are issues of definitions. I'll note that the upper atmosphere is bombarded by "cosmic rays" which in fact are mostly very high-energy protons originating outside our Solar System. Protons are of course the nuclei of hydrogen Bruce ==

Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-06-13 Thread Steve Smith
“mixture” of something. From: friam-boun...@redfish.com [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf Of Steve Smith Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2012 3:45 PM To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group Subject: Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics Nick - I think Bruce just gave a good calibrati

Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-06-13 Thread Robert J. Cordingley
] On Behalf Of Steve Smith Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2012 3:45 PM To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group Subject: Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics 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 (cu

Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-06-13 Thread Robert J. Cordingley
ect that there is some sort of distinction lurking here between a “solution” of something and a “mixture” of something. From: friam-boun...@redfish.com [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf Of Steve Smith Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2012 3:45 PM To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee G

Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-06-13 Thread Greg Sonnenfeld
> 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 > > >

Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-06-13 Thread Bruce Sherwood
Huh? That makes no sense. Moreover, there is NO hydrogen or helium in our atmosphere. Any that we might have once had is long gone. Given the very large average height and correspondingly high average speed (and much higher speed in the high-speed tail of the distribution), these very-low-mass spec

Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-06-13 Thread ERIC P. CHARLES
> > > > > > > > > >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 distinction lurking here between a “solution” >of something and a “mixture” of something. > > > > > > > > > > &g

[FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-06-13 Thread Nicholas Thompson
Thanks, everybody. I realize that most of you have day jobs and don't have time to be teachers in my self-designed Elder-Hostel Education program, but if you do have a moment, could you answer the following questions? In these questions, the words "cool" and "warm" will have a technical

Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-06-12 Thread Steve Smith
ot;solution" of something and a "mixture" of something. *From:*friam-boun...@redfish.com [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] *On Behalf Of *Steve Smith *Sent:* Tuesday, June 12, 2012 3:45 PM *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics

Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-06-12 Thread Carl Tollander
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 Comple

Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-06-12 Thread Steve Smith
am-boun...@redfish.com>] *On Behalf Of *Steve Smith *Sent:* Tuesday, June 12, 2012 3:45 PM *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics Nick - I think Bruce just gave a good calibration on this with his great description not on

Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-06-12 Thread Douglas Roberts
Of *Steve Smith > *Sent:* Tuesday, June 12, 2012 3:45 PM > > *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group > *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics > > ** ** > > Nick - > > I think Bruce just gave a good calibration on this with his great > description not only o

Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-06-12 Thread Nicholas Thompson
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

Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-06-12 Thread Douglas Roberts
Sort of adds a new spin to "Brownian motion", doesn't it... On Tue, Jun 12, 2012 at 1:09 PM, Steve Smith 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 mixing into the

Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-06-12 Thread Steve Smith
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 f

Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-06-12 Thread Bruce Sherwood
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 wrote: > BasherWo the Science Ninja does it again! > > Bruce, that

Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-06-12 Thread Bruce Sherwood
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 r

Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-06-12 Thread Steve Smith
heavier things tend to sink when mixed with lighter ones? N *From:*friam-boun...@redfish.com <mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com> [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] *On Behalf Of *Douglas Roberts *Sent:* Tuesday, June 12, 2012 2:43 PM *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity C

Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-06-12 Thread Steve Smith
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). B

Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-06-12 Thread Douglas Roberts
> > *From:* friam-boun...@redfish.com > [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] > *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&#x

Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-06-12 Thread Steve Smith
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 w

Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-06-12 Thread Nicholas Thompson
: 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 o

Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-06-12 Thread Bruce Sherwood
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 proportional

Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-06-12 Thread Douglas Roberts
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 wrote: > ahh Doug... I *knew* we could count on you! > > Let's not ignore temperature: my farts are a good 20 degrees F a

Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-06-12 Thread Steve Smith
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 comp

Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-06-12 Thread Douglas Roberts
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 perc

Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-06-12 Thread Roger Critchlow
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 bo

Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-06-12 Thread Robert J. Cordingley
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

Re: [FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-06-12 Thread Pamela McCorduck
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

[FRIAM] atmospherics

2012-06-12 Thread Nicholas Thompson
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 o