I came across a lovely video of an experiment where CO2 is used to put out flames.
I myself once performed a demonstration in my physics class where I compared a Helium filled balloon to a Carbon Dioxide filled balloon. Of course, one floats and the other falls to the ground (faster than a balloon filled with room air).
I then showed how my voice sounds higher when I inhale Helium due to the fact that the speed of sound is faster in Helium than in air, and the waves pile up as the slow down at the Helium-Air interface.
To be clever, I asked my students what happens when you breathe in Carbon Dioxide and try the same trick. Your voice should sound far lower. What I didn’t count on was that when you breathe pure Carbon Dioxide, it combines with the water in your lung membranes and forms Carbonic Acid. I almost coughed to death during the demo.
Next time Michelle Bachmann says that CO2 is harmless, have her take a breath out of a CO2 balloon!
Kevin Knuth
Albany NY
Posted under Fun, Physics, Stuff
This post was written by drknuth on June 3, 2010
