OT Don't read this (was Re: Altair MBL source)

[Pete Turnbull]

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