“They” say that the air of a sneeze travels at about a hundred miles an hour. Is this another one of “those” factoids that “I” tend to put in “quotes” (e.g., the average person eats eleventy spiders per week)? I did a board search, checked Snopes, and Googled, but all I found was a repetition of this “fact.”
Spiders: Nope, debunked. (by Cecil, I think)
Bumping this thread to give this very important question about our bodies a chance for an answer.
If all the Chinese in China faced east and sneezed at the same time, would the earth slow down?
Well, according to the following link:
http://sciencelinks.jp/j-east/article/200517/000020051705A0668028.php
It all travels at about 2 m/s which is about 4.5 mph. Of course, that’s the average speed after leaving the mouth (and before it stops) if I am reading the link right, so 9 mph at the lips or 10 in the throat seems reasonable perhaps?
I imagine the speed would also be effected by the size of the opening of the mouth and the volume of air going threw it over a time. If I sneeze with my mouth wide open, I imagine the air coming out of my mouth would be slow than if I closed my lips and made a small hole. Correct me if I’m wrong please.
This question is not to be sneezed at. :eek:
What?
Someone once told me that a sneeze propels the air at .85 Mach (i.e. the speed a commercial airliner typically cruises at altitude). Naturally, I took that with a grain of salt — that sort of speed would blow off the whole front of my face, wouldn’t it?
PPptPptptpPptpthhtheppPpptth!
By the way, I didn’t get into the background for this post. You see, I’m the only thing stopping this so-called “fact” from making its way into an elementary school textbook, and as a proud member of the Teeming Millions, I feel it’s my duty to keep ignorance at bay. I’ve already stopped things such as the more-muscles-to-frown balderdash from passing on to the young’uns, but unless I can delete with some position of authority, it’s likely to end up making the rounds of e-mail lists for a whole new generation. Won’t somebody think of the children?!
Of course if it is true, I’ll be more than happy to let it pass – it’s just that this seems to cutesy to go unchecked.