Superhelium

[Petri Kanninen]

DON:
> From: Petri Kanninen <pkannine at cc.hut.fi>
>> to wonder how superhelium actually works.
> It works just as I want it to work, in such a manner as to make the plot
> work out just the way I wish it to. Convenient, eh?
> Can you explain how all of Gyro's other inventions work?!

No, and I usually don't even try to explain them. But this gas was such a
fascinating idea I started to think about it more.
 
> >>>When Gyro demonstrates it to
> Donald he says that it forms a solid film when contacted with metal.
> 
> If that's what Gyro says, then your translator is not following my script. I
> said that it forms a solid film *beyond* the metal... when it *no longer* is
> in contact with the metal -- quite the opposite.

It says: "When the gas touches ship's metal hull, it forms a solid film
that eventually surrounds the ship like a balloon." Now that you told what
it originally said, I can see what the translator meant that the
solidification (is that a real word) only happens outside.
 
> >>>But then again
> shouldn't the hole Helper made close when the gas again has contact with
> metal and air.
 
> But maybe you mean the escaping gas should seal the hole by solidifying as
> it leaves the coins? Shall I invent a reason why it doesn't? 

Yes, this is what I meant.

> Give me 1.37 seconds: A) There is a brief time limit in which the gas
> will do that, otherwise it would be useless trying to remove the ship
> hulls from the bubbles. B) The gas won't solidify if it's moving too
[...]

"A" sounds like a good option. And I couldn't figure it out think any good
explanations in a day...
 
> >>> Anyway, this bugs me a lot since I'm desperately
> trying to become a chemist in the distant future.
> 
> My degree is in engineering, not chemistry. But I suspect that if you ever
> actually try to invent the gas described in this story, you *might* be
> disappointed.

Actually my degree will be in chemical engineering, so it's not too far
away. And good inventions come from crazy ideas. So if I ever get a Nobel
prize for inventing a gas that becomes solid when contacted with metal
I'll remember to thank you for giving me the idea.

> >>>Also I started to wonder why Scrooge's money didn't go straight to the
> quicksand when they crashed down. That thin rock layer couldn't have
> survived the impact those moneys gave.
> 
> (sigh...)

Yeah, I can be bothersome sometimes. Just ask my parents about the too
many questions I made when I was a kid. But it's nice to have someone
doing the kind of Disney comics that make wonder how things actually
happen in them.

--
Petri Kanninen (pkannine at cc.hut.fi)
Aku Ankan taskukirja -tietokanta: http:/www.perunamaa.net/taskarit/

"Ei ole enää muotia kuolla sydämen rasvoittumiseen pöydän ääressä, vaan
pururadalla." -Kroisos Pennonen, taskari 54