OT Don't read this (was Re: Altair MBL source) - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

5 May 2005

On May 5 2005, 14:48, der Mouse wrote:
...
  >>> If you inhale a gas which is heavier than
air, what happens?
 >> You die rather quickly as you can't get the BAD air out of your
 >> lungs.
 > That's what I always thought, but it seemed like people were refuting
...
   that.  I
thought the heavier gas sank into your lungs and displaced
 the air, which made you suffocate, effectively. 
 You're forgetting that while gases do stratify based on weight, this
 takes time.  If you were take a lungful of a mix of gases and hold it,
...
  completely still, for a long time (hours to days),
yes, it would
 stratify out. 
Sorry, but that simply isn't so.  Put two gasses together and each will
diffuse evenly throughout the space they're contained in.  Left
undisturbed, they will not separate out in layers.  Unlike liquids, all
gasses are miscible with each other.

-- 
Pete						Peter Turnbull
						Network Manager
						University of York