Comic for July 5, 2017: When in Doubt, Blow it up

[Schrodinger]

Huh, so it is a Stephen King novel. Just on a much smaller scale.

[Foxx Trotter]

Smoke and mirrors....yeppers, smoke and mirrors. Nice going, Red.

[Stupidlyaddicted]

Soooo if i became a patreon, would i be able to view the comic before it's considered "free"?

[Stupidlyaddicted]

Thanks !

I'm heavily addicted to this comic now and i need MOAR ;-;

But take your time, time=quality

[Ddraig]

So... They're in an impenetrable forcefield bubble that not even smoke can escape from... and they just used up a large amount of the oxygen in the bubble by trying to blow it up. Seems like they're in a bit of a pickle.
(for reference, a candle flame in a regular size jar only lasts around 5 seconds)
Sciencey fire stuff in the spoiler (because for some reason it doesn't want to show the spoiler box title)

Spoiler!

So I'd guess that explosion was around the same percentage of volume as the jar candle flame in the above example, so it ought to have the same burn-out rate. It takes 5 seconds for that flame to take the oxygen percentage from 21.5% - atmosphere standard - down to 16%, the minimum for fire to burn. Humans require at least 19.5% oxygen percentage to survive.
I'd also guess that explosion lasted around 1 second, which would bring the percentage down to around the human minimum (5 seconds to drop O2 percentage by 5.5%).

Here's hoping those plants don't get too crispy; they're the only thing keeping Group B conscious

[MuonNeutrino]

So... They're in an impenetrable forcefield bubble that not even smoke can escape from... and they just used up a large amount of the oxygen in the bubble by trying to blow it up. Seems like they're in a bit of a pickle.

Here's hoping those plants don't get too crispy; they're the only thing keeping Group B conscious

I'm not sure that actually would follow even for regular explosives, and either way I don't think it makes sense to treat this explosion the same as regular combustion.

First, even normal explosives typically include their own oxidizer compounds. There are a few explosives that rely on the atmosphere to supply the oxygen, but not most. If you replaced this with a bomb, it wouldn't consume all the oxygen from the air. (Although being close to it wouldn't be fun!)

Second, the energy here isn't even coming from chemical processes. In normal explosives the energy comes from rearranging chemical bonds, which does indeed usually involve oxidizing something. But according to Tom, here Red is simply releasing energy converted from mana. So there's just basically a ton of energy (in the form of heat?) being dumped into the air/being shot at the shield, without any rearranging of chemical bonds required. That much heat might well set things on fire (e.g. the grass), but if it doesn't there's no particular reason it should deplete oxygen levels. (Well, I suppose he could have dumped so much energy that some of the air was turned to plasma, but since we know he wasn't fried to a crisp there's no way in heck he could have depleted enough oxygen to matter. Also not sure what would happen when the plasma cooled, whether the oxygen would reassociate or end up bonded to other stuff.)

All in all I don't think oxygen levels are going to be a problem here, though the pressure wave in that confined space can't have been pleasant. They really ought to end up spending the next few strips all yelling "WHAT?" at each other.

[JohnTheWysard]

Intercomic interuniversal convergence: Everblue also has characters trapped in invisible magical hemispherical domes!

[CrRAR]

So, clearly the best solution for Team B out of this predicament is put Raine in enough of an awkward position that she "conveniently" transforms. Then it's smooth sailing once again to warpsville.

I'm sure it's just as easy as it sounds.

Also, for those scared for the lives of our hapless heroes, fear not, for I spy a friendly wink in that there smoke. Team B shall endure! Huzzah!!

(Excuse my hasty MSpaint quality squiggling)

[Tetrahedron]

l

Hm. Could Red draw a bunch of mana, and then pass it to Raine? "Be her crystal"?

…Aaand now I'm imagining a necklace of friends. Adorable

Oh please could anybody make the following to a suggestion on patreon, since Red and Raine are my favorite ship:
Let Red hold Raine gentle from behind, being her mana source. Both having their arm pointing to the barrier, Reds arm lying under Raines, holding her wrist, supporting her arm. Both looking in each other eyes, Raine blasting away the barrier with her spell and Reds mana.

Spoiler!

Raine: Imma firin ma laz0R!

[CrRAR]

Both looking in each other eyes, Raine blasting away the barrier with her spell and Reds mana.

This might just completely burn the tree to a crisp and vaporize the hot spring into a scorching death-mist that painfully murders everyone in the bubble....but at least in that moment they'll have each other.

D'awwwww

[Dadrobit]

Theory craftin' time!

The hot spring was the rendezvous for the wolves after attacking the town. They arrived late enough at night that they didn't realize Group B was already there and put up the large force field as protection against retaliation if they were followed, (potentially from an angry dragon?). Considering the giant pillars of explosive fire they were able to conjure earlier, I don't see a force field as too difficult a task, especially if they are somehow channeling power from the springs to power it.

The Red induced explosion is going to now draw their attention, and they're going to find Group B trapped and outgunned, (so to speak) inside with them.

I predict actions by Zen against Clovis's men will be at least partly a determining factor in Group B's victory, thus further earning their trust. Raine attaining a finer control of her powers is likely to be another large factor in their victory.

Longshot theories are the best theories!

[Rafe]

I can't help but think the present magic effects (and probably a lot more we haven't seen yet) have something to do with this:

[Ddraig]

So... They're in an impenetrable forcefield bubble that not even smoke can escape from... and they just used up a large amount of the oxygen in the bubble by trying to blow it up. Seems like they're in a bit of a pickle.

Here's hoping those plants don't get too crispy; they're the only thing keeping Group B conscious

I'm not sure that actually would follow even for regular explosives, and either way I don't think it makes sense to treat this explosion the same as regular combustion.

First, even normal explosives typically include their own oxidizer compounds. There are a few explosives that rely on the atmosphere to supply the oxygen, but not most. If you replaced this with a bomb, it wouldn't consume all the oxygen from the air. (Although being close to it wouldn't be fun!)

Second, the energy here isn't even coming from chemical processes. In normal explosives the energy comes from rearranging chemical bonds, which does indeed usually involve oxidizing something. But according to Tom, here Red is simply releasing energy converted from mana. So there's just basically a ton of energy (in the form of heat?) being dumped into the air/being shot at the shield, without any rearranging of chemical bonds required. That much heat might well set things on fire (e.g. the grass), but if it doesn't there's no particular reason it should deplete oxygen levels. (Well, I suppose he could have dumped so much energy that some of the air was turned to plasma, but since we know he wasn't fried to a crisp there's no way in heck he could have depleted enough oxygen to matter. Also not sure what would happen when the plasma cooled, whether the oxygen would reassociate or end up bonded to other stuff.)

All in all I don't think oxygen levels are going to be a problem here, though the pressure wave in that confined space can't have been pleasant. They really ought to end up spending the next few strips all yelling "WHAT?" at each other.

If it gives off that much smoke, it's not 'merely' energy release - that's fire. Sooty fire, at that. Either wood or gas/oil (not lamp oil). Self-oxidizing fires tend to not give off (much) smoke, I'm not sure of the exact chemical reasons, but that's what I've seen. Of course, energy has to be released in some form, it's not too absurd that it'd be released in the form of fire. It'd be like trying to go really fast without traveling in any direction.
The dark in the smoke is generally carbon soot and ash that got entrained and incompletely burned, usually the less oxygen a fire has the smokier it is.

[CrRAR]

So... They're in an impenetrable forcefield bubble that not even smoke can escape from... and they just used up a large amount of the oxygen in the bubble by trying to blow it up. Seems like they're in a bit of a pickle.

Here's hoping those plants don't get too crispy; they're the only thing keeping Group B conscious

I'm not sure that actually would follow even for regular explosives, and either way I don't think it makes sense to treat this explosion the same as regular combustion.

First, even normal explosives typically include their own oxidizer compounds. There are a few explosives that rely on the atmosphere to supply the oxygen, but not most. If you replaced this with a bomb, it wouldn't consume all the oxygen from the air. (Although being close to it wouldn't be fun!)

Second, the energy here isn't even coming from chemical processes. In normal explosives the energy comes from rearranging chemical bonds, which does indeed usually involve oxidizing something. But according to Tom, here Red is simply releasing energy converted from mana. So there's just basically a ton of energy (in the form of heat?) being dumped into the air/being shot at the shield, without any rearranging of chemical bonds required. That much heat might well set things on fire (e.g. the grass), but if it doesn't there's no particular reason it should deplete oxygen levels. (Well, I suppose he could have dumped so much energy that some of the air was turned to plasma, but since we know he wasn't fried to a crisp there's no way in heck he could have depleted enough oxygen to matter. Also not sure what would happen when the plasma cooled, whether the oxygen would reassociate or end up bonded to other stuff.)

All in all I don't think oxygen levels are going to be a problem here, though the pressure wave in that confined space can't have been pleasant. They really ought to end up spending the next few strips all yelling "WHAT?" at each other.

The dark in the smoke is generally carbon soot and ash that got entrained and incompletely burned, usually the less oxygen a fire has the smokier it is.

So not only is it raw mana burn, it's inefficient raw mana burn!

Bravo, Red, just bravo.

[MuonNeutrino]

If it gives off that much smoke, it's not 'merely' energy release - that's fire. Sooty fire, at that. Either wood or gas/oil (not lamp oil). Self-oxidizing fires tend to not give off (much) smoke, I'm not sure of the exact chemical reasons, but that's what I've seen. Of course, energy has to be released in some form, it's not too absurd that it'd be released in the form of fire. It'd be like trying to go really fast without traveling in any direction.
The dark in the smoke is generally carbon soot and ash that got entrained and incompletely burned, usually the less oxygen a fire has the smokier it is.

To me, most of that looks like dirt and dust that got kicked up - note the tan color of most of it. Only the darker backwash at ground level actually looks like smoke to me. And like I said, I wouldn't be surprised if the energy release managed to flash-burn the grass in front of him or similar, but I strongly doubt that that could have used up enough oxygen to be dangerous.

I also want to note that talking about the form of energy release is a bit confusing. In this case, 'fire' wouldn't be the *form* of energy release, it would be the *consequence* of energy release. The energy release here is not coming from combustion, it's coming from mana. Said energy may well raise the temperatures of materials exposed to it by enough that they catch on fire, but that'd be an effect, not a cause.

(Also supposedly the reason for self-oxidized flames being less sooty is that the better mixing of oxygen and fuel allows for more complete combustion, which fully reduces the carbon to carbon dioxide instead of leaving some of it in the form of soot. Or at least that's how I'm interpreting this explanation. Thanks for inspiring me to look that up, it's neat.)