# Given enough farts in an enclosed room, could the air become translucent? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 19, 2003, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-enough-farts-in-an-enclosed-room-could-the-air-become-translucent/208372 "2003-10-19T15:55:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-enough-farts-in-an-enclosed-room-could-the-air-become-translucent/208372/1 "2003-10-19T15:55:34Z")
We can all envision a room full of cigarette smoke, but then smoke starts out visible. My own disgusting guess is that the molecular matter would precipitate out first… ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-enough-farts-in-an-enclosed-room-could-the-air-become-translucent/208372/2 "2003-10-19T16:05:35Z")
[Farts](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_079.html) are gas, gas is molecules, what’s left? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-enough-farts-in-an-enclosed-room-could-the-air-become-translucent/208372/3 "2003-10-19T16:13:31Z")
Well, there are the particles of fecal matter to contend with. Ack! ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-enough-farts-in-an-enclosed-room-could-the-air-become-translucent/208372/4 "2003-10-19T20:27:03Z")
If you are claiming there is aerosolized fecal matter in farts, I’m going to have to see a cite on that, **QED**. I stand by Cecil, who mentions no such particles; aside from the occasional Hershey Squirt (which isn’t really a fart anyway), that “cheerful calliope” is all gas. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-enough-farts-in-an-enclosed-room-could-the-air-become-translucent/208372/5 "2003-10-19T22:26:53Z")
From [The Original Facts on Farts](http://www.heptune.com/farts.html): > [@](#): > > As pointed out > by Barb F., who contributed the term to the fart thesaurus, a fart can be regarded as “aerosolized poop,” which means that microscopic fragments and droplets of poop are actually distributed throughout the gaseous matrix of the fart. When delivered from the anus with some force, the components of the fart can penetrate one’s clothing and these tiny particles can be > trapped in the fibers of the cloth. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-enough-farts-in-an-enclosed-room-could-the-air-become-translucent/208372/6 "2003-10-19T22:48:48Z")
Well, if we’re standing shoulder to shoulder… You don’t mean “old farts”, do you. 😉 Actually, me and a few buddies captured all the farts we could for a week or so in one of those old glass water cooler bottles. Never did get even a little cloudy, although it _did_ stink, of course. No worse than an up close open air encounter though. We wound up making a huge bong (hookah) out of it. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-enough-farts-in-an-enclosed-room-could-the-air-become-translucent/208372/7 "2003-10-19T22:56:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mangeorge \* > \*\*Well, if we’re standing shoulder to shoulder… > You don’t mean “old farts”, do you. 😉 > Actually, me and a few buddies captured all the farts we could for a week or so in one of those old glass water cooler bottles. Never did get even a little cloudy, although it _did_ stink, of course. No worse than an up close open air encounter though. > We wound up making a huge bong (hookah) out of it. > Peace, > mangeorge \*\* That’s disgusting!:eek: , even in my most potheaded days I don’t think I would have used that for a hookah. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-enough-farts-in-an-enclosed-room-could-the-air-become-translucent/208372/8 "2003-10-19T23:00:46Z")
Okay, maybe I would. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-enough-farts-in-an-enclosed-room-could-the-air-become-translucent/208372/9 "2003-10-20T01:07:09Z")
There must be some particulate matter in there. The chair I’m sitting in right now is somehow able to retain every fart I release while sitting in it, and then transfer the odor to the next pair of pants I wear when sitting in the chair. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-enough-farts-in-an-enclosed-room-could-the-air-become-translucent/208372/10 "2003-10-20T02:17:56Z")
Ever stretched out on a friends couch and noticed that it smelled like _butt_? ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-enough-farts-in-an-enclosed-room-could-the-air-become-translucent/208372/11 "2003-10-20T02:20:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Joey P \* > \*\*Okay, maybe I would. \*\* eerrrhh. (kaff) ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-enough-farts-in-an-enclosed-room-could-the-air-become-translucent/208372/12 "2003-10-20T02:42:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Joey P \* > \*\*That’s disgusting!:eek: , even in my most potheaded days I don’t think I would have used that for a hookah. \*\* You ain´t seen nothing yet… ask him what he did with the frying pan… 😉