Today's DG Adventure

[The Last DJ]

Was that the look you had stuck on your face after being asked to assume the position? Crazy day but glad it turned out well for you. Welcome home!

 

[tdschrock1]

TSA wanted to check out my disc golf bag. The agent that came to look said, "Oh, frisbee golf, I used to play all the time" and we procedded to have a quick convo.

 

[ClydesdaleDan]

Ha, good point.

When they scan for "nitrogen", they're actually looking for nitrogen that's bonded in certain ways to other elements (probably carbon and hydrogen). It's just easier to say that they're scanning for nitrogen, compared to "scanning for certain types of compounds that contain nitrogen atoms" .

It was most likely some kind of nitrate (NO3) that they detected on you. Probably either potassium nitrate(used in gunpowder/TNT) or ammonium nitrate(used to make diesel bombs). Both are used as fertilizers and are strong oxidizers(make flammable things go boom).

 

[ThrowBot]

A little googling suggests that N2 is a bit _more_ sensitive to temperature than O2 or air.

http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Thermal+Expansion

Not much more, ideal gas law and all, but 0.2% more sensitive.

I concur with your analysis.

 

[geoloseth]

Ha, good point.



When they scan for "nitrogen", they're actually looking for nitrogen that's bonded in certain ways to other elements (probably carbon and hydrogen). It's just easier to say that they're scanning for nitrogen, compared to "scanning for certain types of compounds that contain nitrogen atoms"



The nitrogen that makes up the majority of the atmosphere is diatomic nitrogen gas (N2), which is very chemically inert. N2 gas is actually used in various industrial processes to prevent combustion/explosions.









Is that true? Per the ideal gas law, 02 and N2 should have the same sensitivity to different pressure/temperature/volume scenarios. I'd be interested to learn if there's an explanation for this that's outside the ideal gas assumptions.

While I'm not sure about the N2 - O2 comparison I can say this: the machines we use at my dealership pull all the air out of the tire and replace it with only N2. Think of something like a dialysis machine. When people generalize the N2 O2 comparison in regards to tires they're generally replacing 'normal air' with O2.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

While I'm not sure about the N2 - O2 comparison I can say this: the machines we use at my dealership pull all the air out of the tire and replace it with only N2. Think of something like a dialysis machine. When people generalize the N2 O2 comparison in regards to tires they're generally replacing 'normal air' with O2.

^ This... I said mistakenly said O2 in my posts.

As far as I know, no one actually fills their tires with O2 (but I suppose that'd be better than using H2 ) . Nitrogen's volume is supposed to vary less over a range of temps than air, which means tire pressure varies less as temps change.

I don't know which gas in air might be responsible for that, but that's one of the bigger selling points for using nitrogen in tires.