What may seem like a ridiculous question may just have a ridiculous answer. Have you been putting yourself at risk with your bathroom habits or is your flatulence perfectly safe. According to The National Post a barn in Germany exploded due to cow flatulence. Although this seems like a headline made out to get clicks parts of this story are actually true. There was a rare bacteria going around in the barn to cause the methane production in intestine to be abnormally high and most of the methane came from burps rather than farts, but the barn really did explode. This brings into question, in a much smaller unventilated space, would it be possible to cause an explosion to blow up a room? We will start off examining methane although it may not be the most likely culprit. In order for an explosion to occur concentration of methane in the room must be greater than LEL (Lower explosion limit) which is 5% for methane. Taking the minimum 2 piece bathroom size according to Rempros.com (24 square feet) giving a ceiling height of 7 feet, we get a total of 168 cubic feet. Since cubic feet isn’t the ideal unit for the metric system we will convert this into litres giving us 4757.63 L. This number tells us in order to have an explosion we will need to produce 237.88 L of methane. By this point the answer should be clear, but we will follow through with the calculations anyways. The average fart is 100 ml and assuming the stomach has the right bacteria (only 40% of people do) and the highest percentile concentration (testing possibility not probability) 10% methane (average range is 0-10% depending on bacteria and diet) we get a total of 10 ml of methane per fart. If we take this value and we turn it into litres we get 0.01 L, divide the total needed methane by this number and we get the number of farts needed: 23 788 farts. The average human releases gas at a rate of 14 farts per day: 1699 days. It will only take 1699 days in a fibre rich diet, with the most ideal conditions in a isolate room with no air circulation. Technically speaking it is possible, but it is safe to say you are not at risk unless you plan to span the next 4.5 years of your life testing this theory. Although you may assume methane is the most probable cause of an explosion hydrogen is significantly more likely. Hydrogen LEL is only 4% so in the same room, we can expect an explosion when the volume of hydrogen reaches 190.3 L. The highest tested concentration of hydrogen in farts is 50% (depending on diet between 0-50%). With this in mind, if the average fart is 100 ml, 50% being hydrogen, that means 50 ml of hydrogen per fart. Using the same numbers as before this translates into the following: 3806 farts, 271.86 and just less than a year. In conclusion judging by the results of my calculations there is almost no way for a single person to be at any risk in a small washroom, given normal circumstances. IT may be possible with animals in a much shorter time frame but given the flatulence habits of the average human it is almost impossible to cause an explosion via flatulence unless explicitly trying to do so. In the end, the myth isn’t exactly busted as it is technically possible, but given probability I will use my judgement to say, MYTH BUSTED.
Works Cited
“Chemical Structure of Farts.” Chemical Structure of Farts – Everything2.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 May 2017.
Hecht, Julie. “Well That Stinks! Reporters Blow Cow Farts Out Of Proportion.” Scientific American Blog Network. N.p., 13 Feb. 2014. Web. 25 May 2017.
Helmenstine, Ph.D. Anne Marie. “What Are Farts Made Of? Chemical Composition.” ThoughtCo. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 May 2017.
Press, The Associated. “Explosion Caused by Cow Farts Literally Blows the Roof off Barn in Central Germany, One Bovine Treated for Burns.” National Post. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 May 2017.
Suarez, F., J. Furne, J. Springfield, and M. Levitt. “Insights into Human Colonic Physiology Obtained from the Study of Flatus Composition.” American Journal of Physiology – Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology. American Physiological Society, 01 May 1997. Web. 25 May 2017.
https://www.mathesongas.com/pdfs/products/Lower-(LEL)-&-Upper-(UEL)-Explosive-Limits-.pdf
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