WhipLash
21-08-2001, 08:37 AM
FACTS ON FARTS
by Brenna Lorenz
All contents copyright © 1998 Brenna Lorenz, Megaera Lorenz, Malachi Pulte.
All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction of any part of site without express permission is strictly
prohibited.
<<...>>
Where does fart gas come from?
The gas in our intestines comes from several sources: air we swallow, gas
seeping into our intestines from our blood, gas produced by chemical
reactions in our guts, and gas produced by bacteria living in our guts.
What is fart gas made of?
The composition of fart gas is highly variable.
Most of the air we swallow, especially the oxygen component, is absorbed by
the body before the gas gets into the intestines. By the time the air
reaches the large intestine, most of what is left is nitrogen. Chemical
reactions between stomach acid and intestinal fluids may produce carbon
dioxide, which is also a component of air and a product of bacterial action.
Bacteria also produce hydrogen and methane.
But the relative proportions of these gases that emerge from our anal
opening depend on several factors: what we ate, how much air we swallowed,
what kinds of bacteria we have in our intestines, and how long we hold in
the fart.
The longer a fart is held in, the larger the proportion of boring, inert
nitrogen it contains, because the other gases tend to be absorbed into the
bloodstream through the walls of the intestine.
A nervous person who swallows a lot of air and who moves stuff through his
digestive system rapidly may have a lot of oxygen in his farts, because his
body didn't have time to absorb the oxygen.
Encyclopaedia Britannica offers the intriguing statement that some people's
farts contain no methane. The reason for this is apparently unknown. Some
researchers suspect a genetic influence, whereas others think the anomaly is
due to environmental factors. However, all methane in any farts comes from
bacterial action and not from human cells.
What makes farts stink?
The odor of farts comes from small amounts of hydrogen sulfide gas and
mercaptans in the mixture. These compounds contain sulfur. The more
sulfur-rich your diet, the more sulfides and mercaptans will be produced by
the bacteria in your guts, and the more your farts will stink. Foods such as
cauliflower, eggs and meat are notorious for producing smelly farts, whereas
beans produce large amounts of not particularly stinky farts.
Why do farts make noise?
The sounds are produced by vibrations of the anal opening. Sounds depend on
the velocity of expulsion of the gas and the tightness of the sphincter
muscles of the anus.
How much gas does a normal person pass per day?
On average, a person produces about half a liter of fart gas per day,
distributed over an average of about fourteen daily farts.
Whereas it may be difficult for you to determine your daily flatus volume,
you can certainly keep track of your daily numerical fart count. You might
try this as a science fair project: Keep a journal of everything you eat and
a count of your farts. You might make a note of the potency of their odor as
well. See if you can discover a relationship between what you eat, how much
you fart, and how much they smell.
How does a fart travel to the anus?
(Question submitted by Sigfrido H.)
One may wonder why fart gas travels downward toward the anus when gas has a
lower density than liquids and solids, and should therefore travel upwards.
The intestine squeezes its contents toward the anus in a series of
contractions, a process called peristalsis. The process is stimulated by
eating, which is why we often need to poop and fart right after a meal.
Peristalsis creates a zone of high pressure, forcing all intestinal
contents, gas included, to move towards a region of lower pressure, which is
toward the anus. Gas is more mobile than other components, and small bubbles
coalesce to from larger bubbles en route to the exit. When peristalsis is
not active, gas bubbles may begin to percolate upwards again, but they won't
get very far due to the complicated and convoluted shape of the intestine.
Furthermore, the anus is neither up nor down when a person is lying down.
How long does it take fart gas to travel to someone else's nose?
(Question submitted by SteF)
Fart travel time depends on atmospheric conditions such as humidity,
temperature and wind speed and direction, the molecular weight of the fart
particles, and the distance between the fart transmitter and the fart
receiver. Farts also disperse (spread out) as they leave the source, and
their potency diminishes with dilution. Generally, if the fart is not
detected within a few seconds, it will be too dilute for perception and will
be lost into the atmosphere forever.
Exceptional conditions exist when the fart is released into a small enclosed
area such as an elevator, a small room, or a car. These conditions limit the
amount of dilution possible, and the fart may remain in a smellable
concentration for a long period of time, until it condenses on the walls.
Why is there a 13 to 20 second delay between farting and the time it starts
to smell?
(Question submitted by B_read)
Actually, the fart stinks immediately upon emergence, but it takes several
seconds for the odor to travel to the farter's nostrils. If farts could
travel at the speed of sound, we would smell them almost instantly, at the
same time we hear them.
Is it true that some people never fart?
No, not if they're alive. People even fart shortly after death.
Do even movie stars fart?
(Question submitted by Mermaid2006)
Yes, of course. So do grandmothers, priests, kings, presidents, opera
singers, beauty queens, and nuns. Even Yoda farts.
Do men fart more than women?
(Submitted by Bigdude)
No, women fart just as much as men. It's just that most men take more pride
in it than most women. There is a large variation among individuals in the
amount of fart gas produced per day, but the variation does not correlate
with gender.
I have read that men fart more often than women. If this is true, then women
must be saving it up and expelling more gas per fart than men do.
Do men's farts smell worse than women's farts?
Based on what I have experienced of women's farts, all I can say is that I
hope not.
At what time of day is a gentleman most likely to fart?
(Submitted by David)
A gentleman is mostly likely to fart first thing in the morning, while in
the bathroom. This is known as "morning thunder," and if the gentleman gets
good resonance, it can be heard throughout the household.
Why are beans so notorious for making people fart?
Beans contain sugars that we humans cannot digest. When these sugars reach
our intestines, the bacteria go wild, have a big feast, and make lots of
gas!
Other notorious fart-producing foods include corn, bell peppers, cabbage,
milk, and raisins.
A friend of mine had a dog who was exceptionally fond of apples and turnips.
The dog would eat these things and then get prodigious gas. A dog's
digestive system is not equipped to handle such vegetable matter, so the
dog's bacteria worked overtime to produce remarkable flatulence.
What things other than diet can make a person fart more than usual?
People who swallow a lot of air fart more than people who don't. This can be
cured somewhat by chewing with your mouth closed. Nervous people with fast
moving bowels will fart more because less air is absorbed out of the
intestines. Some disease conditions can cause excess flatulence. And going
up in an airplane or other low-pressure environment can cause the gas inside
you to expand and emerge as flatulence.
Is a fart really just a burp that comes out the wrong end?
No, a burp emerges from the stomach and has a different chemical composition
from a fart. Farts have less atmospheric gas content and more bacterial gas
content than burps.
Is it harmful to hold in farts?
There are differences in opinion on this one. Certainly, people have
believed for centuries that retaining flatulence is bad for the health.
Emperor Claudius even passed a law legalizing farting at banquets out of
concern for people's health. There was a widespread belief that a person
could be poisoned or catch a disease by retaining farts.
Doctors I have spoken to recently have told me that there is no particular
harm in holding in farts. Farts will not poison you; they are a natural
component of your intestinal contents. The worst thing that can happen is
that you may get a stomach ache from the gas pressure. But one doctor
suggested that pathological distention of the bowel could result if a person
holds in farts too much.
How long would it be possible to not fart?
(Question submitted by Ineed69too)
As I understand it, a captive fart can escape as soon as the person relaxes.
This means that a lot of people who assiduously refrain from farting during
the day do so at great length as soon as they fall asleep. Having been on a
great many overnight field trips, long bus trips, and trans-Pacific flights,
I can personally vouch for the fact that lots of people do fart voluminously
as they doze off. So the answer to the question would be, you can refrain
from farting as long as you can stay awake!
Do all people fart in their sleep?
(Question submitted by MrBlack)
I have not made a scientific study of this, but I don't think all people
fart in their sleep. I think mainly those who refuse to fart when they're
awake do so when dozing off. For other people, toilet training takes such a
strong hold that they let nothing pass their sphincters in sleep. For these
people, the gas accumlates in the night and they vent it upon awakening.
Where do farts go when you hold them in?
How often have you held in a fart, intending to release it at the first
appropriate opportunity, only to find that the fart has disappeared when you
are ready for it?
I asked several doctors where the fart goes. Does it leak out slowly without
the person knowing it? Is it absorbed into the bloodstream? What happens to
it?
The doctors agree that the fart is neither released nor absorbed. It simply
migrates back upward into the intestine and comes out later.
It is reassuring to know that such farts aren't really lost, just delayed.
How can one cover up a fart?
(Question submitted by Mouseweed)
There is a company called Fartypants <http://www.fartypants.com/> that sells
underwear designed to absorb the odor of farts. If you should be caught
without your Fartypants, another ploy is to blame the dog or cat, if one
should be present, or complain about how the wind must be blowing from the
direction of the paper mill.
As for the sound... if you are in a large group of people, act oblivious and
innocent, or glance quickly at the person next to you, as if you think
he/she did it. Other strategies include coughing or suddenly moving your
chair so that people think that they misheard the fart. If you are with one
other person, you can act as if nothing happened, and the other person may
believe he was mistaken in thinking he heard a fart.
CJT addresses the problem of farting loudly in a public restroom as follows:
"My solution: use a handful of loose toilet paper, cover your butt hole and
it will muffle the farting; my friends and I call it the 'Buff Muff'!"
Depending upon the company, another strategy is not to cover it up, but to
proudly proclaim the fart as your own grand accomplishment and to issue a
challenge to the others to outdo that one if they think they can.
Is it really possible to ignite farts?
The answer to that is yes! However, you should be aware that people get
injured igniting flatulence. Not only can the flame back up into your colon,
but your clothing or other surroundings may catch on fire. A survey done by
Fartcloud (the site, alas! is not more) indicates that about a quarter of
the people who ignited their farts got burned doing it. Ignition of
flatulence is a hazardous practice. However, if you want to try it, and you
don't have a friend to light your fart for you, you might find it easier to
accomplish the job using the Fartlighter
<http://drbukk.safeshopper.com/8/cat8.htm?289>.
There have also been cases in which intestinal gases with a higher than
normal oxygen content have exploded during surgery when electric cautery was
used by the surgeon.
Why is possible to burn farts?
Farts burn because they contain methane (usually) and hydrogen, both of
which are flammable gases. (Hydrogen was the same gas that was used in the
ill fated Hindenburg dirigible.)
Farts tend to burn with a blue or yellow flame.
Is it possible to light a match with a fart?
(Question submitted by Brocolli)
No, even strike-anywhere matches have their limits, unless the fart has the
consistency of sandpaper! Any fart that rough I would hesitate to call a
fart. Also, farts have the same temperature as the body from which they
emerge, and aren't hot enough to initiate combustion.
Are there any books about farting?
There are several! My favorite is the new book, Who Cut the Cheese: A
Cultural History of the Fart
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580080111/recommendedrea06> by Jim
Dawson. This book provides an entertaining and thought-provoking history of
the fart in literature, language and society. It is very informative and
very funny!
Ben Franklin's classic Fart Proudly
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/089804801X/recommendedrea06> is
still in print.
There is a collection of suggestive photographs called Who Farted Now?
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0312039522/recommendedrea06> by St.
Martin's Press. Most of the photos come from old movies and political shots.
For children, we have the famous The Gas We Pass : The Story of Farts
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0916291529/recommendedrea06> by
Shinta Cho, and Amanda Mayer Stinchecum (Translator), and the Canadian
picture book, Good Families Don't
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0440405653/recommendedrea06>, by
Alan Daniel and Robert N. Munsch, about a highly visible fart infesting a
proper
by Brenna Lorenz
All contents copyright © 1998 Brenna Lorenz, Megaera Lorenz, Malachi Pulte.
All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction of any part of site without express permission is strictly
prohibited.
<<...>>
Where does fart gas come from?
The gas in our intestines comes from several sources: air we swallow, gas
seeping into our intestines from our blood, gas produced by chemical
reactions in our guts, and gas produced by bacteria living in our guts.
What is fart gas made of?
The composition of fart gas is highly variable.
Most of the air we swallow, especially the oxygen component, is absorbed by
the body before the gas gets into the intestines. By the time the air
reaches the large intestine, most of what is left is nitrogen. Chemical
reactions between stomach acid and intestinal fluids may produce carbon
dioxide, which is also a component of air and a product of bacterial action.
Bacteria also produce hydrogen and methane.
But the relative proportions of these gases that emerge from our anal
opening depend on several factors: what we ate, how much air we swallowed,
what kinds of bacteria we have in our intestines, and how long we hold in
the fart.
The longer a fart is held in, the larger the proportion of boring, inert
nitrogen it contains, because the other gases tend to be absorbed into the
bloodstream through the walls of the intestine.
A nervous person who swallows a lot of air and who moves stuff through his
digestive system rapidly may have a lot of oxygen in his farts, because his
body didn't have time to absorb the oxygen.
Encyclopaedia Britannica offers the intriguing statement that some people's
farts contain no methane. The reason for this is apparently unknown. Some
researchers suspect a genetic influence, whereas others think the anomaly is
due to environmental factors. However, all methane in any farts comes from
bacterial action and not from human cells.
What makes farts stink?
The odor of farts comes from small amounts of hydrogen sulfide gas and
mercaptans in the mixture. These compounds contain sulfur. The more
sulfur-rich your diet, the more sulfides and mercaptans will be produced by
the bacteria in your guts, and the more your farts will stink. Foods such as
cauliflower, eggs and meat are notorious for producing smelly farts, whereas
beans produce large amounts of not particularly stinky farts.
Why do farts make noise?
The sounds are produced by vibrations of the anal opening. Sounds depend on
the velocity of expulsion of the gas and the tightness of the sphincter
muscles of the anus.
How much gas does a normal person pass per day?
On average, a person produces about half a liter of fart gas per day,
distributed over an average of about fourteen daily farts.
Whereas it may be difficult for you to determine your daily flatus volume,
you can certainly keep track of your daily numerical fart count. You might
try this as a science fair project: Keep a journal of everything you eat and
a count of your farts. You might make a note of the potency of their odor as
well. See if you can discover a relationship between what you eat, how much
you fart, and how much they smell.
How does a fart travel to the anus?
(Question submitted by Sigfrido H.)
One may wonder why fart gas travels downward toward the anus when gas has a
lower density than liquids and solids, and should therefore travel upwards.
The intestine squeezes its contents toward the anus in a series of
contractions, a process called peristalsis. The process is stimulated by
eating, which is why we often need to poop and fart right after a meal.
Peristalsis creates a zone of high pressure, forcing all intestinal
contents, gas included, to move towards a region of lower pressure, which is
toward the anus. Gas is more mobile than other components, and small bubbles
coalesce to from larger bubbles en route to the exit. When peristalsis is
not active, gas bubbles may begin to percolate upwards again, but they won't
get very far due to the complicated and convoluted shape of the intestine.
Furthermore, the anus is neither up nor down when a person is lying down.
How long does it take fart gas to travel to someone else's nose?
(Question submitted by SteF)
Fart travel time depends on atmospheric conditions such as humidity,
temperature and wind speed and direction, the molecular weight of the fart
particles, and the distance between the fart transmitter and the fart
receiver. Farts also disperse (spread out) as they leave the source, and
their potency diminishes with dilution. Generally, if the fart is not
detected within a few seconds, it will be too dilute for perception and will
be lost into the atmosphere forever.
Exceptional conditions exist when the fart is released into a small enclosed
area such as an elevator, a small room, or a car. These conditions limit the
amount of dilution possible, and the fart may remain in a smellable
concentration for a long period of time, until it condenses on the walls.
Why is there a 13 to 20 second delay between farting and the time it starts
to smell?
(Question submitted by B_read)
Actually, the fart stinks immediately upon emergence, but it takes several
seconds for the odor to travel to the farter's nostrils. If farts could
travel at the speed of sound, we would smell them almost instantly, at the
same time we hear them.
Is it true that some people never fart?
No, not if they're alive. People even fart shortly after death.
Do even movie stars fart?
(Question submitted by Mermaid2006)
Yes, of course. So do grandmothers, priests, kings, presidents, opera
singers, beauty queens, and nuns. Even Yoda farts.
Do men fart more than women?
(Submitted by Bigdude)
No, women fart just as much as men. It's just that most men take more pride
in it than most women. There is a large variation among individuals in the
amount of fart gas produced per day, but the variation does not correlate
with gender.
I have read that men fart more often than women. If this is true, then women
must be saving it up and expelling more gas per fart than men do.
Do men's farts smell worse than women's farts?
Based on what I have experienced of women's farts, all I can say is that I
hope not.
At what time of day is a gentleman most likely to fart?
(Submitted by David)
A gentleman is mostly likely to fart first thing in the morning, while in
the bathroom. This is known as "morning thunder," and if the gentleman gets
good resonance, it can be heard throughout the household.
Why are beans so notorious for making people fart?
Beans contain sugars that we humans cannot digest. When these sugars reach
our intestines, the bacteria go wild, have a big feast, and make lots of
gas!
Other notorious fart-producing foods include corn, bell peppers, cabbage,
milk, and raisins.
A friend of mine had a dog who was exceptionally fond of apples and turnips.
The dog would eat these things and then get prodigious gas. A dog's
digestive system is not equipped to handle such vegetable matter, so the
dog's bacteria worked overtime to produce remarkable flatulence.
What things other than diet can make a person fart more than usual?
People who swallow a lot of air fart more than people who don't. This can be
cured somewhat by chewing with your mouth closed. Nervous people with fast
moving bowels will fart more because less air is absorbed out of the
intestines. Some disease conditions can cause excess flatulence. And going
up in an airplane or other low-pressure environment can cause the gas inside
you to expand and emerge as flatulence.
Is a fart really just a burp that comes out the wrong end?
No, a burp emerges from the stomach and has a different chemical composition
from a fart. Farts have less atmospheric gas content and more bacterial gas
content than burps.
Is it harmful to hold in farts?
There are differences in opinion on this one. Certainly, people have
believed for centuries that retaining flatulence is bad for the health.
Emperor Claudius even passed a law legalizing farting at banquets out of
concern for people's health. There was a widespread belief that a person
could be poisoned or catch a disease by retaining farts.
Doctors I have spoken to recently have told me that there is no particular
harm in holding in farts. Farts will not poison you; they are a natural
component of your intestinal contents. The worst thing that can happen is
that you may get a stomach ache from the gas pressure. But one doctor
suggested that pathological distention of the bowel could result if a person
holds in farts too much.
How long would it be possible to not fart?
(Question submitted by Ineed69too)
As I understand it, a captive fart can escape as soon as the person relaxes.
This means that a lot of people who assiduously refrain from farting during
the day do so at great length as soon as they fall asleep. Having been on a
great many overnight field trips, long bus trips, and trans-Pacific flights,
I can personally vouch for the fact that lots of people do fart voluminously
as they doze off. So the answer to the question would be, you can refrain
from farting as long as you can stay awake!
Do all people fart in their sleep?
(Question submitted by MrBlack)
I have not made a scientific study of this, but I don't think all people
fart in their sleep. I think mainly those who refuse to fart when they're
awake do so when dozing off. For other people, toilet training takes such a
strong hold that they let nothing pass their sphincters in sleep. For these
people, the gas accumlates in the night and they vent it upon awakening.
Where do farts go when you hold them in?
How often have you held in a fart, intending to release it at the first
appropriate opportunity, only to find that the fart has disappeared when you
are ready for it?
I asked several doctors where the fart goes. Does it leak out slowly without
the person knowing it? Is it absorbed into the bloodstream? What happens to
it?
The doctors agree that the fart is neither released nor absorbed. It simply
migrates back upward into the intestine and comes out later.
It is reassuring to know that such farts aren't really lost, just delayed.
How can one cover up a fart?
(Question submitted by Mouseweed)
There is a company called Fartypants <http://www.fartypants.com/> that sells
underwear designed to absorb the odor of farts. If you should be caught
without your Fartypants, another ploy is to blame the dog or cat, if one
should be present, or complain about how the wind must be blowing from the
direction of the paper mill.
As for the sound... if you are in a large group of people, act oblivious and
innocent, or glance quickly at the person next to you, as if you think
he/she did it. Other strategies include coughing or suddenly moving your
chair so that people think that they misheard the fart. If you are with one
other person, you can act as if nothing happened, and the other person may
believe he was mistaken in thinking he heard a fart.
CJT addresses the problem of farting loudly in a public restroom as follows:
"My solution: use a handful of loose toilet paper, cover your butt hole and
it will muffle the farting; my friends and I call it the 'Buff Muff'!"
Depending upon the company, another strategy is not to cover it up, but to
proudly proclaim the fart as your own grand accomplishment and to issue a
challenge to the others to outdo that one if they think they can.
Is it really possible to ignite farts?
The answer to that is yes! However, you should be aware that people get
injured igniting flatulence. Not only can the flame back up into your colon,
but your clothing or other surroundings may catch on fire. A survey done by
Fartcloud (the site, alas! is not more) indicates that about a quarter of
the people who ignited their farts got burned doing it. Ignition of
flatulence is a hazardous practice. However, if you want to try it, and you
don't have a friend to light your fart for you, you might find it easier to
accomplish the job using the Fartlighter
<http://drbukk.safeshopper.com/8/cat8.htm?289>.
There have also been cases in which intestinal gases with a higher than
normal oxygen content have exploded during surgery when electric cautery was
used by the surgeon.
Why is possible to burn farts?
Farts burn because they contain methane (usually) and hydrogen, both of
which are flammable gases. (Hydrogen was the same gas that was used in the
ill fated Hindenburg dirigible.)
Farts tend to burn with a blue or yellow flame.
Is it possible to light a match with a fart?
(Question submitted by Brocolli)
No, even strike-anywhere matches have their limits, unless the fart has the
consistency of sandpaper! Any fart that rough I would hesitate to call a
fart. Also, farts have the same temperature as the body from which they
emerge, and aren't hot enough to initiate combustion.
Are there any books about farting?
There are several! My favorite is the new book, Who Cut the Cheese: A
Cultural History of the Fart
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580080111/recommendedrea06> by Jim
Dawson. This book provides an entertaining and thought-provoking history of
the fart in literature, language and society. It is very informative and
very funny!
Ben Franklin's classic Fart Proudly
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/089804801X/recommendedrea06> is
still in print.
There is a collection of suggestive photographs called Who Farted Now?
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0312039522/recommendedrea06> by St.
Martin's Press. Most of the photos come from old movies and political shots.
For children, we have the famous The Gas We Pass : The Story of Farts
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0916291529/recommendedrea06> by
Shinta Cho, and Amanda Mayer Stinchecum (Translator), and the Canadian
picture book, Good Families Don't
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0440405653/recommendedrea06>, by
Alan Daniel and Robert N. Munsch, about a highly visible fart infesting a
proper