If the oxygen level in a room will allow a cigarette lighter to work, is this sufficient oxygen for human survival?

do the experiment.

JudgeMental said:

do the experiment.

How do you alter the O2 level in the container? and measure the O2 level?

bob(from black rock) said:

If the oxygen level in a room will allow a cigarette lighter to work, is this sufficient oxygen for human survival?

not in my experience – some none breathable atmospheres tend to be explosive.

I think there are far more accurate ways to determine the composition of gasses in air – in fact you can buy hand held gas monitors that do that very thing.

bob(from black rock) said:

JudgeMental said:

do the experiment.

How do you alter the O2 level in the container? and measure the O2 level?

by displacing it with another gas

bob(from black rock) said:

If the oxygen level in a room will allow a cigarette lighter to work, is this sufficient oxygen for human survival?

A full flame or a weak barely visible one?
Would they still spark in a room almost devoid of oxygen

diddly-squat said:

bob(from black rock) said:

If the oxygen level in a room will allow a cigarette lighter to work, is this sufficient oxygen for human survival?

not in my experience – some none breathable atmospheres tend to be explosive.

I think there are far more accurate ways to determine the composition of gasses in air – in fact you can buy hand held gas monitors that do that very thing.

Ta, how much are they? and where do you purchase? or can you hire them?

Cymek said:

bob(from black rock) said:

If the oxygen level in a room will allow a cigarette lighter to work, is this sufficient oxygen for human survival?

A full flame or a weak barely visible one?
Would they still spark in a room almost devoid of oxygen

a naked flame will extinguish in an atmosphere of less than about 4% O2

You can get a canary from most good pet shops.

bob(from black rock) said:

diddly-squat said:

bob(from black rock) said:

If the oxygen level in a room will allow a cigarette lighter to work, is this sufficient oxygen for human survival?

not in my experience – some none breathable atmospheres tend to be explosive.

I think there are far more accurate ways to determine the composition of gasses in air – in fact you can buy hand held gas monitors that do that very thing.

Ta, how much are they? and where do you purchase? or can you hire them?

Here is some glossy marketing materials from a company that sells them…

http://www.draeger.com/sites/assets/PublishingImages/Products/cin_x-zone_5000/US/gas-detection-br-9041145-us.pdf

Cymek said:

bob(from black rock) said:

If the oxygen level in a room will allow a cigarette lighter to work, is this sufficient oxygen for human survival?

A full flame or a weak barely visible one?
Would they still spark in a room almost devoid of oxygen

I think that a cigarette lighter will spark without oxygen, as the spark is electrically generated or mechanically generated.

bob(from black rock) said:

Cymek said:

bob(from black rock) said:

If the oxygen level in a room will allow a cigarette lighter to work, is this sufficient oxygen for human survival?

A full flame or a weak barely visible one?
Would they still spark in a room almost devoid of oxygen

I think that a cigarette lighter will spark without oxygen, as the spark is electrically generated or mechanically generated.

and given it runs on a fuel source, it will light down in atmospheres less than 4%… but will probably struggle between 4% and 2%… after that, it won’t light.

bob(from black rock) said:

Cymek said:

bob(from black rock) said:

If the oxygen level in a room will allow a cigarette lighter to work, is this sufficient oxygen for human survival?

A full flame or a weak barely visible one?
Would they still spark in a room almost devoid of oxygen

I think that a cigarette lighter will spark without oxygen, as the spark is electrically generated or mechanically generated.

That’s what I thought

bob(from black rock) said:

If the oxygen level in a room will allow a cigarette lighter to work, is this sufficient oxygen for human survival?

It’s not a daft question. According to one website, humans can survive when the oxygen level drops as low as 6%, but will lose consciousness at about 10% and even well above that suffer from extreme exhaustion. On the other hand, people have been known to successfully climb to the peak of Mt Everest without bottled oxygen, where the oxygen content is equivalent to only 7% of the atmosphere at sea level.

According to Wikipedia, timber won’t burn at oxygen concentration below 17%. Paper won’t burn at an oxygen concentration below 14%. Cigarette lighter fluid is butane, which won’t burn at oxygen concentration below 12%.

So yes, if the oxygen level in a room will allow a cigarette lighter to work, this is sufficient oxygen for human survival.

mollwollfumble said:

bob(from black rock) said:

If the oxygen level in a room will allow a cigarette lighter to work, is this sufficient oxygen for human survival?

It’s not a daft question. According to one website, humans can survive when the oxygen level drops as low as 6%, but will lose consciousness at about 10% and even well above that suffer from extreme exhaustion. On the other hand, people have been known to successfully climb to the peak of Mt Everest without bottled oxygen, where the oxygen content is equivalent to only 7% of the atmosphere at sea level.

According to Wikipedia, timber won’t burn at oxygen concentration below 17%. Paper won’t burn at an oxygen concentration below 14%. Cigarette lighter fluid is butane, which won’t burn at oxygen concentration below 12%.

So yes, if the oxygen level in a room will allow a cigarette lighter to work, this is sufficient oxygen for human survival.

PS, am assuming low CO2 concentrations in all of the above. High CO2 concentrations suppress combustion, but more importantly also leads to a breathing reflex in humans that is difficult (but not impossible) to control.

I would say that a lighter has been designed to work at a certain air pressure – distorting the ambient pressure might affect whether the lighter actually does anything