🚀 go-pugleaf

Radium wrote:
> hhc314@yahoo.com wrote:
> 
>>Radium, let me assure that if you recieve a really bad Third Degree
>>Burn, both your skin and underlying flesh will in fact carbonize and
>>turn black.  When that happens, the healing time is very prolonged.

> What if it did not carbonize? Lets say for some 'magical' reason.

   Then your skin isn't made mostly of keratin. What _is_ it made of?

>>While not diminishing the burn potentialil the value of an
>>oxy-acetylene flame, the simple fact is that your body will react
>>immediately to remove the source of the heat with often only a first or
>>second degree burn resulting (I know because I have an use one).

> What if my body does not reflexively pull me away from the source of
> heat?

   Then your skin will continue to do whatever it does when exposed 
to heat.

> How long does it take for and oxy-acetylene flame to cause a
> third-degree burn?

   Depends; is it a pinpoint minitorch, or one big enough to cut 
plates of WWII battleship armor? Rate of burn depends on heat 
transferred, not just the temperature of the source. The surface of 
the sun is considerably hotter than anything you can get your hands 
on easily, but try getting a first degree burn from it; it's just 
too far away to transfer much heat to your skin.

> Could the flame be made so hot that it would instantly cause a
> third-degree burn before signals of pain are generated?

   Sure, try an oxyhydrogen torch.

>>On
>>the other hand, if the dross from molten steel falls into your shoe and
>>you cannot immediately remove it, then you'll enjoy the experience of a
>>good, flesh carbonizing, third degree burn, which I hope you will never
>>experience.

> Third-degree burns caused by hot water don't carbonize.

   Water can't get that hot, but live steam can. Of course it's more 
likely to flay the flesh off your bones before it can carbonize it...

> Another thing. Once, I was pouring some boiling water into a
> cup-o-noodles soup container, the water spilled on my left hand,
> turning it bright red. I am sure this was just a first degree burn. It
> was red and extremely irritating.
> 
> A year later, I was frying tortillas in HOT butter. Some frying-hot
> butter fell on my feet! Needless to say, I was stunned for a moment.
> The burn on my foot became cold, pale, and moist, it began to give out
> fluid [Must have been a superficial 2nd-degree burn]. My skin is
> usually brownish yellow since I am of Indian ancestry. The burnt skin
> on my foot, however, became albino white [no brown, no black, no
> yellow, no red]! Took about a week to completely heal. It then regained
> its normal color.
> 
> Strangely, the water burn on my hand was so much more debilitating than
> the butter burn on my foot! The burn on my foot was sharply painful but
> I could ignore it. The burn on my hand, however, was just so irritating
> and painful. This is strange. Aren't superficial second-degree burns
> supposed to MORE painful than first-degree burns??

   Look up the term "heat capacity" and notice that water has a 
larger value than fats.

> It seems the hands and arms are far more irritated by the presence of
> thermal burns than the feet and legs.

   Look up the relative density of heat and pain receptors on the 
various parts of the body.


   Mark L. Fergerson