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Story by me

Art by

Elemental Tales Folder: bakerchemi.deviantart.com/gall…

Elemental Tales Group:

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Real-life Chemistry Info for Comic 6:

First, a non-chemistry explanation:

Red Rover is a children's game where one team of people stand in a row and hold hands, and another team of people, standing far away on the opposite side of the field, also stand in a row and hold hands, and are facing the 1st team. The 1st team calls out to the 2nd team, "Red Rover, Red Rover, send (name of person on 2nd team) right over!" Then the person who was called out on the 2nd team runs as fast as they can towards any of the linked hands on the 1st team, trying to break through the linked hands. If they're not able to break through the linked hands, then they have to join the 1st team and hold hands with them. But if they are able to break through the linked hands, then they can take any member from the 1st team and bring them to join their 2nd team.

Then this whole scenario is done again with the 2nd team calling out to the 1st team, "Red Rover, Red Rover...", etc. The two teams go back and forth like this until one team runs out of players. The team that runs out of players loses, and the other team wins.

Alright, now for the chemistry info:

The HCN Molecule

HCN, or hydrogen cyanide, is a linear molecule, with a single bond between hydrogen and carbon, and a triple bond between carbon and nitrogen. The molecule looks like this:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen…

A triple bond is much stronger than a single or double bond, which explains why, in the comic, the runners were unable to break through Carbon and Nitrogen's hands.

The Toxicity of HCN

Hydrogen cyanide is a colorless, extremely poisonous liquid. It has a faint odor of bitter almonds. Although there are many non-poisonous applications for HCN, HCN can also be used as a poison and chemical weapon (in either gas or liquid form). A hydrogen cyanide concentration of 300 mg/m3 in air will kill a human within 10–60 minutes. A hydrogen cyanide concentration of 3500 ppm (about 3200 mg/m3) will kill a human in about 1 minute.

The toxicity of HCN is caused by the cyanide ion (CN-) in the molecule. The cyanide ion halts cellular respiration by acting as a non-competitive inhibitor for an enzyme in mitochondria called cytochrome c oxidase. Specifically, the cyanide ion binds to iron in the heme subunit in cytochromes, interrupting electron transfer. If cyanide is inhaled it causes a coma with seizures, apnea, and cardiac arrest, with death following in a matter of seconds. At lower doses, loss of consciousness may be preceded by general weakness, giddiness, headaches, vertigo, confusion, and perceived difficulty in breathing. At the first stages of unconsciousness, breathing is often sufficient or even rapid, although the state of the victim progresses towards a deep coma, sometimes accompanied by pulmonary edema, and finally cardiac arrest.

This is why, in the comic, shortly after the runners touch Carbon and Nitrogen's hands (the cyanide ion part of HCN), they quickly get sick and die.

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Elemental Tales (c) me.

Description

Story by me

Art by

Elemental Tales Folder: bakerchemi.deviantart.com/gall…

Elemental Tales Group:

-----------------------------------

Real-life Chemistry Info for Comic 6:

First, a non-chemistry explanation:

Red Rover is a children's game where one team of people stand in a row and hold hands, and another team of people, standing far away on the opposite side of the field, also stand in a row and hold hands, and are facing the 1st team. The 1st team calls out to the 2nd team, "Red Rover, Red Rover, send (name of person on 2nd team) right over!" Then the person who was called out on the 2nd team runs as fast as they can towards any of the linked hands on the 1st team, trying to break through the linked hands. If they're not able to break through the linked hands, then they have to join the 1st team and hold hands with them. But if they are able to break through the linked hands, then they can take any member from the 1st team and bring them to join their 2nd team.

Then this whole scenario is done again with the 2nd team calling out to the 1st team, "Red Rover, Red Rover...", etc. The two teams go back and forth like this until one team runs out of players. The team that runs out of players loses, and the other team wins.

Alright, now for the chemistry info:

The HCN Molecule

HCN, or hydrogen cyanide, is a linear molecule, with a single bond between hydrogen and carbon, and a triple bond between carbon and nitrogen. The molecule looks like this:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen…

A triple bond is much stronger than a single or double bond, which explains why, in the comic, the runners were unable to break through Carbon and Nitrogen's hands.

The Toxicity of HCN

Hydrogen cyanide is a colorless, extremely poisonous liquid. It has a faint odor of bitter almonds. Although there are many non-poisonous applications for HCN, HCN can also be used as a poison and chemical weapon (in either gas or liquid form). A hydrogen cyanide concentration of 300 mg/m3 in air will kill a human within 10–60 minutes. A hydrogen cyanide concentration of 3500 ppm (about 3200 mg/m3) will kill a human in about 1 minute.

The toxicity of HCN is caused by the cyanide ion (CN-) in the molecule. The cyanide ion halts cellular respiration by acting as a non-competitive inhibitor for an enzyme in mitochondria called cytochrome c oxidase. Specifically, the cyanide ion binds to iron in the heme subunit in cytochromes, interrupting electron transfer. If cyanide is inhaled it causes a coma with seizures, apnea, and cardiac arrest, with death following in a matter of seconds. At lower doses, loss of consciousness may be preceded by general weakness, giddiness, headaches, vertigo, confusion, and perceived difficulty in breathing. At the first stages of unconsciousness, breathing is often sufficient or even rapid, although the state of the victim progresses towards a deep coma, sometimes accompanied by pulmonary edema, and finally cardiac arrest.

This is why, in the comic, shortly after the runners touch Carbon and Nitrogen's hands (the cyanide ion part of HCN), they quickly get sick and die.

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Elemental Tales (c) me.