# How fast do farts travel? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 25, 2008, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-farts-travel/450569 "2008-05-25T16:20:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-farts-travel/450569/21 "2008-05-26T00:23:26Z")
[QUOTE=Love Rhombus] Now my damnable curiosity is peaked: how fast are lit ones? And how hot? [/QUOTE] I don’t know how fast, but one was hot enough to set my college roommate’s jeans on fire. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-farts-travel/450569/22 "2008-05-26T00:30:00Z")
Old farts travel about 15 mph for at least 10 miles. ---
**Author:** ![DudleyGarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DudleyGarrett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DudleyGarrett)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-farts-travel/450569/23 "2008-05-26T00:30:49Z")
What causes hang-time? I always thought it was due to leakage and one’s not necessarily smelling gas, but the actual feces splatter against the inside of the underwear. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-farts-travel/450569/24 "2008-05-26T02:29:43Z")
[QUOTE=Ignatz] Oh, really? When I was in the German train stations, I always held my nose near those signs and thought they were for the toilets. But when I went to them, I found myself outside. [/QUOTE] Gotta ask – did you then dump on the doorsteps? ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-farts-travel/450569/25 "2008-05-26T02:38:31Z")
Only on the Dope. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-farts-travel/450569/26 "2008-05-26T02:43:04Z")
Didn’t Cecil do a column on some Japanese toilets that have fans installed inside them (or some such), in order to er, eliminate that smell of expelled gas in public toilets? Or am I now confabulating Dope columns as well as experiences in my real life? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-farts-travel/450569/27 "2008-05-26T02:55:19Z")
Nice article in [wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatulence). And no discussion of farts is complete without mention of [Le Pétomane](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_P%C3%A9tomane) or providing visual aids via [You](http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=fart+light&search_type=&search=Search)[Tube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0ufXXuZcfY). ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-farts-travel/450569/28 "2008-05-26T03:12:18Z")
[QUOTE=Peak Banana] Oddly enough, the word “fart” in Danish means “speed”. Apart from that, I got nuttin’. [/QUOTE] I always thought that in Sweden it meant Dolly Parton lying in the [road](http://www.opinios.com/images/other/farthinder.jpg) ahead. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-farts-travel/450569/29 "2008-05-26T05:41:34Z")
[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord] Old farts travel about 15 mph for at least 10 miles. [/QUOTE] Young ones are allus walking across my lawn at about 2 mph. Bastards ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-farts-travel/450569/30 "2008-05-26T07:42:14Z")
[QUOTE=elmwood] Well, the anal reverberation travels at the speed of sound. [/QUOTE] And the underwear staining is at the speed of browned. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-farts-travel/450569/31 "2008-05-26T10:27:25Z")
[QUOTE=Rick] I always thought that in Sweden it meant Dolly Parton lying in the [road](http://www.opinios.com/images/other/farthinder.jpg) ahead. [/QUOTE] Yeah. And also, when you fart in Danish elevators, you have the option of [alerting](http://heidi.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/i_fart.jpg) your fellow passengers. Such a polite country. I should also mention the effort the Danes are making to reduce emissions on their [highways.](http://www.sandgreen.dk/bill/billeder/fartkontrol-crop.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-farts-travel/450569/32 "2008-05-26T13:12:39Z")
So, have I helped to fight ignorance by asking this question? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-farts-travel/450569/33 "2008-05-26T13:22:35Z")
Can I expand (hehe) the question? How compressed is the gas before emission? ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-farts-travel/450569/34 "2008-05-26T14:15:37Z")
[QUOTE=DudleyGarrett] What causes hang-time? I always thought it was due to leakage and one’s not necessarily smelling gas, but the actual feces splatter against the inside of the underwear. [/QUOTE] I wonder if certain farts are denser than others, thus causing more hang time. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-farts-travel/450569/35 "2008-05-26T14:21:44Z")
Guy lights candle with fart: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVoIT7oUC3s) Gotta love the grunt of determination! ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-farts-travel/450569/36 "2008-05-26T15:06:37Z")
[QUOTE=lobotomyboy63] Guy lights candle with fart: ![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/zVoIT7oUC3s/maxresdefault.jpg)https://www.youtube.com/embed/zVoIT7oUC3s?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque Gotta love the grunt of determination! [/QUOTE] LOL. Too much determination leads to premature defecation. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-farts-travel/450569/37 "2008-05-26T15:17:13Z")
[QUOTE=FoieGrasIsEvil] LOL. Too much determination leads to premature defecation. [/QUOTE] The signs of the prophets are written on the bathroom stalls: _Here I sit all broken-hearted; Came to shit and only farted._ [Reply] _Don’t you bitch, you had your chance; I tried to fart and shit my pants._ ---
**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:** [May 26, 2008, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-farts-travel/450569/38 "2008-05-26T15:34:51Z")
[QUOTE=DudleyGarrett] What causes hang-time? I always thought it was due to leakage and one’s not necessarily smelling gas, but the actual feces splatter against the inside of the underwear. [/QUOTE] Are these invisible feces, 'cause i have never noticed any skidmarks after even the most pungent and durable barking spiders. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-farts-travel/450569/39 "2008-05-26T15:55:02Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] invisible feces [/QUOTE] Pray you never see the lolcat for this. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-farts-travel/450569/40 "2008-05-26T16:01:57Z")
[QUOTE=ultrafilter] Pray you never see the lolcat for this. [/QUOTE] That would be an lolshat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-farts-travel/450569.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-do-farts-travel/450569.md?page=3)