Script for Next Video? (Patreon)

I dont normally write scripts but I want to do a good job on this video so... let me know what you think!

In park hanging from play set:

Alright everyone welcome back to cody’s lab! I just breathed in some krypton and am currently hanging upside down. Since this gas is 3 times heavier than air one would expect it to “drain out of my lungs” faster than if I was standing upright. However it takes just as many breaths to clear. 

Part is already filmed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVmhHLyYj10

Standing upright in lab talking to camera:

The idea that it makes sense to bend over and let the heavy gas “drain” from your lungs is a misconception that I have heard quite often even by professionals. Infact the first time I heard it was back in middle school when some fire fighters talking to our class demonstrated proper technique for helping someone that had breathed halon. At the time I thought it made sense but over the years I’ve realized that it is one of those things that makes sense only from your chair and actually doing the test yields different results. 

So anyway let me explain why it doesn’t matter: 

In lab holding some sponges: 

Lungs have tons of little tiny pores that are air pockets called alveoli. These are less like a bucket and more like a sponge that ‘soaks up’ air. Also like a sponge where you can’t just pour the liquid out, sure drip drying is a bit faster than just letting it sit on the counter, it’s best to squeeze them to get out at much of the liquid as you can. This is what your diaphragm does every time you take a breath. 

For our analogy imagine normal air as being a light liquid like alcohol and a heavy gas being water. 

Now take your water soaked sponge and give it a squeeze, most of the water has been removed but a rather substantial amount remains, to get the rest I will have to add some alcohol which mixes with the water so that I can squeeze out the moist alcohol leaving much less water in the sponge.

I will quickly point out here that just like how a water alcohol mixture doesn’t separate, gasses of different densities also do not settle out once mixed. Rather they sort of form a ‘solution” with properties of the two averaged, and it takes a large amount of work to unmix them. 

Looking at paper, doing the math: 

It is here that I will address one thing that people incorrectly use as proof that heavy gas gets pools up in the lungs. Which is that after breathing a heavy gas it takes longer for your voice to return to normal. And this is true, it does take longer but it is due to the fact that the heavy gasses are a lot heavier than helium is light, so even a small amount of the heavy gas really brings down the average, where a similar amount of the light gas will be almost unnoticeable. 

Holding two balloons, one filled with helium the other air or other heavy gas:

Now you may ask “Oh but it is more difficult to breathe out when you have the heavy gas so clearly its weight does mater” aga9in it is true that a heavy gas is more difficult to excel but this is due almost entirely to effusion. It is harder to force a high molecular weight gas through a small hole than it is to force a light gas through. its kind of like it is easier to suck water through a straw than it is to drink a thick milkshake through one. 

In lab with glass tubing of various sizes and halon gas:

Now finally someone might say “ok the structure of the lungs is narrow and branching but the trachea (windpipe) is more or less a simple tube, surly the heavy gas will pour out of that”  this does make sense water after all would run right out of such tube and it is indeed a good idea to turn a drowned person over to let the water drain out. However recall that if you take a thin tube like a straw, fill it with water and seal one end the water will not drain out due to a suction effect. However increasing the size of the tube will eventually allow a pressure difference to develop across the tube that is strong enough to allow the air to force its way in break the vacuum and push the water out. Gasses behave much the same way, they will drain out of a large tube much more quickly than a narrow tube. However recall that he heaviest gasses are about 1% the density of water and thus require a lot bigger tube to generate the needed pressure difference needed for the air to force its way in. 

Show clip of guy falling over while trying to head stand: 

So I hope this video helps dispel the myth because you are far more likely to hurt yourself trying to do a hand stand then you are of getting the gas out faster by doing it. 

Back to me in front of camera:

Hope you all enjoyed, I’ll see you all next time.

Outro; talking to camera holding some shirts: 

Hey guys so a printing company recently sent me a sample of “cody’s lab” shirts (and here they are) I haven’t decide whether I want to have them making official merch for me since I’ve never really done that sort of thing and I don’t really need to thanks to patron. but I am considering it since the shirts are of pretty good quality and I might potentially be needing a lot more moneys to fund a legal battle against the government. So let me know in the comments if you would be willing to buy a shirt and also if you have any ideas for something to put on one I’d love to hear it.