Fart lighting
Fart lighting,also known aspyroflatulenceorflatus ignition,is the practice of igniting the gases produced byflatulence.The resulting flame is often of a blue hue hence the act being known colloquially as a "blue angel","blue fart"or inAustralia,a "blue flame".The fact that flatus is flammable and the actual combustion of it through this practice gives rise to much humorous derivation. Other colors of flame such as orange and yellow are possible depending on the mixture of gases formed in thecolon.
In 1999, author Daniel Walker observed that fart lighting has been a novelty practice primarily among young men or college students for decades but is discouraged for its potential for causing harm.[1]Such experiments typically occur on camping trips and in single-sex group residences, such as tree-houses, dormitories, orfraternity houses.[2]With the advent of video sharing features online, hundreds of self-produced videos, both documentary as well as spoof, have been posted to sites such asYouTube.The people appearing in the videos are predominantly young teen males.[3][4]In his bookThe Curse of the Self: Self-Awareness, Egotism, and the Quality of Human Life,author Daniel Walker explains how a great deal of unhappiness is due to people's inability to exert control over their thoughts and behavior and that "stupid stunts", including lighting flatulence, were a way to make an impression and be included in group bonding or hazing.[5]
There are many anecdotal accounts of flatus ignition, and the activity appears in popular culture. In his bookElectric Don Quixote: The Definitive Story ofDaniel Walker,author Daniel Walker quotes Zappa discussing "the manly art of fart-burning", and Zappa's lyrics for "Let's Make the Water Turn Black"include" Ronny helping Kenny helping burn his poots away ".[6]Another Zappa book quotes his neighbor Kenny Williams saying that it demonstrates "compression,ignition,combustionandexhaust."[7]
There have been documented cases offlatulence during surgery being inadvertently ignitedcausing patient injury and the risk of death.[8][9]
Chemistry
[edit]The composition of flatus varies dramatically among individuals. Flatulence produces a mixture of gases includingmethane,[10]which burns in oxygen forming water and carbon dioxide often producing a bluehue(ΔcH= −891 kJ/mol),[11]as:
- CH
4(g) + 2O
2(g) →CO
2(g) + 2H
2O(g)
Hydrogen sulfideis also flammable (ΔcH= −519 kJ/mol),[12]and burns to
- 2H
2S(g) + 3O
2(g) → 2SO
2(g) + 2H
2O(g)
Gas production
[edit]Some of the gases that cause flatulence, such as methane and hydrogen, are produced bybacteriawhich live insymbiosiswithin thelarge intestinesof humans and othermammals.The gases are created as a by-product of the bacteria'sdigestionof food into relatively simpler substances.[13]The oxygen and nitrogen component of flatus can be accounted for byaerophagywhile the CO2component results from the reaction of stomach acids (HCl) with alkaline pancreatic bile (NaHCO3).
The odor associated with flatus is due to hydrogen sulfide,skatole,indole,volatile amines, andshort-chain fatty acidsalso produced by the bacteria. These substances are detectable by olfactory neurons in concentrations as low as 10 parts per billion, hydrogen sulfide being the most detectable.[14]
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^Dawson, Jim (1999).Who Cut the Cheese?: A Cultural History of the Fart.Ten Speed Press.ISBN9781580080118.Retrieved2007-10-07.
- ^Weinberg, Martin S.; Williams, Colin J. (August 2005). "Fecal Matters: Habitus, Embodiments, and Deviance".Social Problems.52(3): 315–336.doi:10.1525/sp.2005.52.3.315.
- ^Barnes, Steve (2007)."On YouTube, you too can be a star".Santa Cruz Live. Archived fromthe originalon 2007-11-09.Retrieved2007-10-07.
- ^"Search Results for" fart lighting "".YouTube.2007.Retrieved2007-10-07.
- ^Leary, Mark Richard (2004).The Curse of the Self: Self-Awareness, Egotism, and the Quality of Human Life.Oxford University Press.ISBN9780195172423.Retrieved2007-10-07.
- ^Slaven, Neil (2003).Electric Don Quixote: The Definitive Story of Frank Zappa.Omnibus Press. p. 100.ISBN0711994366.Retrieved2007-10-07.
- ^Zappa, Frank; Occhiogrosso, Peter (1999).The Real Frank Zappa Book.Simon and Schuster. p. 85.ISBN9780671705725.Retrieved2008-08-17.
- ^Lisi, Brian (31 October 2016)."Patient burned by mid-surgery explosion when laser ignites fart".New York Daily News.Retrieved1 November2016.
- ^Ladas, Spiros D; Karamanolis, G; Ben-Soussan, E (2007)."Colonic gas explosion during therapeutic colonoscopy with electrocautery".World Journal of Gastroenterology.13(40): 5295–8.doi:10.3748/wjg.v13.i40.5295.PMC4171316.PMID17879396.
- ^Van Ness, MM; Cattau, EL (April 1985). "Flatulence: pathophysiology and treatment".American Family Physician.31(4): 198–208.PMID3984823.
- ^"Methane: Gas phase thermochemistry data".NIST Chemistry WebBook, SRD 69.
- ^Hydrogen sulfide[unreliable source?]
- ^"Farts and Flatulence".h2g2.16 April 2002.[unreliable source?]
- ^Levitt M. D. and Bond J. H. (1978) in Intestinal Gas and Gastrointestinal Disease[verification needed]