richcross2003
3rd Dec 2003, 09:52
Ever wondered, what makes farts smell? no, nor HAD i. Actually seem to remember some idiot at school asking the science teacher the question once whilst trying to be funny, i can't remember the answer because at the time i was probably too busy trying to look up sarahs skirt... anyway, beside the point. I'd noticed this evening when i got in that my room really stunk, i'd been dropping them all yesterday and the smell stayed, actually for some reason i'm dropping bad'uns recently so i thought... let's find out why! Went to google, found a page, had to go via google cache because the gypos are too tight to spend more money on bandwidth... pauses for breath. Anyway i got an answer...
The technical name for a fart is actually flatus, hence we talk about flatulence. Flatus is actually produced as a result of bacterial activity in the large intestine. They basically ferment undigested food, releasing the gases nitrogen, carbon dioxide, oxygen, methane and hydrogen sulphide. The last three are produced in quite small amounts and it is the hydrogen sulphide which cause the smell.
Incidentally, the methane and oxygen in flatus make it quite inflammable and so the stories you may have heard of wild parties in which someone, who has probably drunk rather a lot, being persuaded to try and set fire to their farts, is not as much of a tall tale as you might have thought. Apparently, the injuries that result are very painful and are relatively common in admissions to casualty departments up and down the country, especially around New Year, for some reason...
Thats my xmas party trick sorted for this year, if my farts are still as strong as this i'll burn the buiding down :) Still trying to find pages on how to make your farts smell worse, I so want to test them out in the lifts at work ;) Hey if you can't make people smile you may as well make them vomit.
The technical name for a fart is actually flatus, hence we talk about flatulence. Flatus is actually produced as a result of bacterial activity in the large intestine. They basically ferment undigested food, releasing the gases nitrogen, carbon dioxide, oxygen, methane and hydrogen sulphide. The last three are produced in quite small amounts and it is the hydrogen sulphide which cause the smell.
Incidentally, the methane and oxygen in flatus make it quite inflammable and so the stories you may have heard of wild parties in which someone, who has probably drunk rather a lot, being persuaded to try and set fire to their farts, is not as much of a tall tale as you might have thought. Apparently, the injuries that result are very painful and are relatively common in admissions to casualty departments up and down the country, especially around New Year, for some reason...
Thats my xmas party trick sorted for this year, if my farts are still as strong as this i'll burn the buiding down :) Still trying to find pages on how to make your farts smell worse, I so want to test them out in the lifts at work ;) Hey if you can't make people smile you may as well make them vomit.