Hello %username%.
I, as usual, will not calm down.
And the reason for everything is iodine pentafluoride and !
In general, we all (hopefully) remember the beginning of Ridley Scott's work and the amazing film Alien, which I recommend, despite the fact that it is 1979. By the end of this article, I will prove that the film is not just cool - it is SCIENTIFIED!
And for this we will strain our memory and remember the ending: Ripley sits on a shuttle and suddenly finds an Alien there.
And now there will be some pictures, warm memories and chemistry.
Finding the Alien, Ripley decides to blow on him with special gases. Singing a song about a star of luck, Ripley opens just such a simple panel.
Special gases on the shuttle
The list is more than interesting:
- A. Iodine pentafluoride.
- B. Isobutane.
- C. Methyl chloride.
- D. Nitrosyl chloride.
- E. Methyl bromide.
- F. Isobutylene.
- G. Phosphine.
- N. Silan.
- I. Perfluoropropane.
- J. Phosgene.
- K. Something on "A", argon? I don't know, I can't figure it out.
So, Ripley tries to fumigate our friend first with iodine pentafluoride:
First try
Alien somehow celebrates these actions a little.
Then - fumigate with methyl chloride.
Second attempt
Also zero to weight.
Third time - good luck! We're fumigating the creature with nitrosyl chloride.
Third attempt
And here came the wriggling and throwing
It all ended up being thrown into space and burned in the exhaust from the engine.
By the way, the Alien did not burn out in the exhaust, which is important
Now let's take a look at what we saw.
What are the gases?
"Special gases on the shuttle" is a really strange set.
1. Iodine pentafluoride IF5
Well, actually, iodine pentafluoride is not a gas, but a heavy yellow liquid with a boiling point of 97,85 Β° C. , this is a very strong fluorinating agent, that is, if our little animal was blown with this rubbish at the temperature of boiling water, it is really tenacious! Many questions are raised by what the shuttle itself is made of, since iodine pentafluoride calmly destroys not only metals, but also glass. Also questions for Ripley's suit - but that's it.
2. Isobutane CH(CH3)3
Isobutane is a common combustible gas (by the way, with an octane rating of 100), it can be used in internal combustion engines and as a coolant. Ripley did not use it - and rightly so: if iodine pentafluoride did not work - what's the point? Moreover, there could be sparks later - which means it could explode.
3. Methyl chloride CH3Cl
Methyl chloride is a colorless poisonous gas with a sweet smell. Due to the low odor, toxic or explosive concentrations can easily be overlooked. Chloromethane was also used as a refrigerant in the past, but due to toxicity and explosiveness, it is no longer found in this role. The main use now: the production of polymers, as a methylating agent in organic synthesis, as rocket fuel, as a carrier in low-temperature polymerization, as a liquid for thermometric and thermostatic equipment, as a herbicide (also limited due to toxicity).
The toxicity of methyl chloride is associated with its hydrolysis to methyl alcohol - well, then, as I wrote in .
Ripley either didn't know biochemistry, or she hoped that the Alien also had alcohol dehydrogenase in his body, and he could safely drink with him. But, as expected, the trick did not work - Ripley's second attempt was unsuccessful.
4. Nitrosyl chloride NOCl
Nitrosyl chloride is a red gas, toxic, with a suffocating odor. It is usually observed as a product of the decomposition process of aqua regia - a mixture of hydrochloric and nitric acids - it stinks of them and its tail rises above it when heated (steamed with nitrogen oxides). about her too .
Nitrosyl chloride is widely used as a chlorinating agent, by the way, it is registered as a food additive with the E919 index - as an improver and stabilizer of the color of bakery products. Sometimes it was also used to purify and disinfect drinking water.
In the food industry, nitrosyl chloride is used very little, at the same time, in its pure form, this substance poses the most serious danger to life and health. Inhalation of its vapors causes severe irritation of the mucous membranes, pulmonary edema, bronchospasm, asthma attack, and a number of other manifestations of respiratory disorders. Physical contact leads to chemical burns of the skin.
No wonder the Outsider didn't like him very much.
5. Methyl bromide CH3Br
Similar in character to methyl chloride. In addition, except in organic synthesis, it is used as a fumigant for the disinfection of plant materials from scale insects, false scale insects and mealybugs, as well as for pest control of stocks, in particular fresh and dry vegetables and fruits, less often for grain processing. As a fumigant, it is prohibited for use due to toxicity in accordance with the Montreal Protocol.
It was also used in the processing of used clothes, but it was also abandoned due to toxicity (so you can safely go to SecondHand).
Ripley was absolutely right not to use it - what's the point if methyl chloride didn't help?
6. Isobutylene CH2C(CH3)2
Combustible gas, most often used in the production of polymers. Nothing special, the effect will be like from isobutane.
7. Phosphine PH3
Poisonous gas, disrupts metabolism and affects the central nervous system, also affects blood vessels, respiratory organs, liver, kidneys. It was considered as a chemical warfare agent - and by the way, one of the toxic products of the interaction of yellow phosphorus with water (again a reference to ). Pure gas is odorless, technical gas contains impurities, which is why it has the smell of rotten fish.
Phosphine is used in the synthesis of organophosphorus, as a source of phosphorus impurities in the production of semiconductors, and also as a fumigant - an alternative to the banned methyl bromide. Apparently, by analogy with methyl bromide and methyl chloride, Ripley decided that phosphine would not help.
8. Silane, or rather, monosilane SiH4
A colorless gas with an unpleasant odor. It must be said that in the presence of oxygen, monosilane is oxidized with a flash even at liquid air temperature. They write that silane is toxic with an LC50 of 0,96% for rats - but understanding the properties of silane and the need for rats to breathe something, either the rats simply suffocated from the lack of oxygen, or they burned out in a silane flame, or .
It is used in various reactions of organic synthesis (obtaining organosilicon polymers, etc.), as a source of pure silicon for the microelectronic industry in the manufacture of crystalline and thin-film photoconverters based on silicon, LCD screens, substrates and technological layers of integrated circuits, as well as to obtain ultrapure polysilicon.
I think Ripley was really afraid of the fire, and therefore did not use the silane on the Alien.
9. Perfluoropropane C3F8
Perfluoropropane is a typical representative of perfluorinated hydrocarbons. It can be used as a coolant. Slowly flammable, non-explosive, low toxicity. Like all perfluorocarbons, it is capable of creating a strong greenhouse effect hundreds of times stronger than CO2, which can potentially be used for terraforming. By the way, it does not create a greenhouse effect.
Ripley, apparently, decided that there would be no sense in perfluoropropane, it is only suitable for suffocating animals that breathe oxygen - but given how the Alien was briskly jerking in space - not an option.
10. Phosgene COCl2
A good choice of poison for humans and mammals - I'm talking about him . Also used in organic synthesis.
Apparently, Ripley understood that the Alien was too different from the biology of mammals, and therefore did not choose phosgene. He may have been "number four" after nitrosyl chloride. It's unknown here.
11. Huh? Argon?
Nothing special at all - an inert gas. Doesn't interact with anything.
Also useless, like perfluoropropane.
Conclusions
- In a stressful situation, Ripley acted carefully and deliberately: she did not allow a fire, she correctly selected gases to smoke out the Alien - everything was done correctly.
- It is completely incomprehensible what the Alien consists of? Judging by the causticity of his saliva, it contains something like chlorine trifluoride, but then its temperature must be below +12 Β° C, otherwise this substance will boil. He has blood from bromine fluorides (I'm talking about them )? Then what is he himself made of: he is not afraid of high and low temperatures, however, he has a significant expansion coefficient when heated - remember the ending of Alien-3, where, after molten lead, he was blown up with sprayed water. Organosilicon is not suitable - fluorides would dissolve it. Some kind of organofluorine? But why did nitrosyl chloride act then? Here the filmmakers left a mystery.
- It is completely incomprehensible what the ship is made of: it is not afraid of hot iodine pentafluoride, nitrosyl chloride - but is eaten through by Alien saliva. If there are superacids in the Alien's blood (read about them in ), then resistance to gases is strange. If the blood of an alien contains fluorine halogens, it is strange that the ship was eaten by them, but iodine pentafluoride survived. Second riddle.
- The commercial tug "Nostromo", or rather, a rescue shuttle, is unexpectedly equipped with gases necessary for organic synthesis (fluorination, methylation, polymer reactions, chlorination), gases for treating crops from pests, fuel gases, refrigerants, raw materials for semiconductor production and gases for terraforming. Was it expected that the astronaut would use high-tech when surviving? On the other hand, the distant future (the original version of the script spoke about 2087) ...
- Alien is the coolest movie ever. Unlike other Hollywood films, it is thought out even to such chemical trifles.
Source: habr.com