# What gas is fart? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 22, 2002, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-gas-is-fart/144340 "2002-12-22T06:30:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leechlord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19b73/32.png) [@Leechlord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leechlord)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-gas-is-fart/144340/1 "2002-12-22T06:30:08Z")
What kind of gas does fart made of? is it flamable? ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-gas-is-fart/144340/2 "2002-12-22T06:32:11Z")
[The Master speaks.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_079.html) ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-gas-is-fart/144340/3 "2002-12-22T06:43:00Z")
[The joys of “fart lighting”.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=151130) ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-gas-is-fart/144340/4 "2002-12-22T06:45:05Z")
It’s the methane that gives the flame. ---
**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:** [December 22, 2002, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-gas-is-fart/144340/5 "2002-12-22T07:15:26Z")
I want to thank **scr4** for reprising one of Unca Cec’s better columns. I think will change my name to **Cheerful Calliope**. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-gas-is-fart/144340/6 "2002-12-22T10:33:27Z")
Here is a [flamer](http://mywebpages.comcast.net/cpeek001/balls_of_fire.mpg) in action. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-gas-is-fart/144340/7 "2002-12-22T22:33:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Leechlord \* > \*\*What kind of gas does fart made of? \*\* The high-pitched squeakers are helium. The rest are methane. Depends on what you eat, really. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lorenzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4da419/32.png) [@Lorenzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lorenzo)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-gas-is-fart/144340/8 "2002-12-22T22:38:32Z")
I always thought it was methane. Learn something new every day. ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-gas-is-fart/144340/9 "2002-12-22T22:38:38Z")
Of course, if you really must know, ignite one and perform a spectrography study of the light given off to find the components by its signature spectrum. Or, collect the gas and run it through a gas chromatograph to find the components. Have fun…it’s agas! Hmm…just for kicks, maybe one could eat different foods (beans, tacos, brocolli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, various beers, etc.) and study the different resultant signature spectrums 😃 Sounds like a great science project! - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![Monopoly\_Money](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Monopoly\_Money](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monopoly_Money)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-gas-is-fart/144340/10 "2002-12-22T23:27:04Z")
I heard a funny story on the news a few years ago about a passenger plane carrying a bunch of pigs (livestock) in the cargo area. The pigs kept farting and the methane gas produced upset the plane’s environmental control so much that they had to make an emergency landing! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Linear\_Crack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Linear\_Crack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linear_Crack)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-gas-is-fart/144340/11 "2002-12-22T23:43:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astro \* > \*\*Here is a [flamer](http://mywebpages.comcast.net/cpeek001/balls_of_fire.mpg) in action. \*\* Ouch! ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-gas-is-fart/144340/12 "2002-12-23T00:05:53Z")
my second time posting this tidbit today: Visit [http://bored.com](http://bored.com) and scroll down to Facts on Farts. It should explain a great deal. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![cdhostage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@cdhostage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cdhostage)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-gas-is-fart/144340/13 "2002-12-23T04:12:53Z")
Farts are a great many gases. Depending on how you eat and what you eat, ya got methane, nitrogen, and a bunch of oxides and sulfides in various proportions. The really awful smell that comes after you eat (and yes I have done this to win a dollar or something… maybe it was a cookie. I forget) 32 ounces of baked beans, four hard boiled eggs, and one cup of chili (my recipe) is mostly sulfur-containing gases. I had to spend the next two days hiking. Alone.