Smoking at the gas pump - who cares?

I always smoke at the gas pump...

sometimes I get yelled at for it through the loudspeaker,

or I can see the middle aged gas station employee

pacing in the store because I'm smoking at the pump.

I really don't think a cigarette

(except for in near perfect conditions)

can ignite gasoline or it's vapors....

maybe I'm just lucky.

getting in and out of your car then touching the handle could sometimes cause a spark then a kick ass home made flame thrower. or even using a cell phone while pumping, gas that is.

new nickname - zippo

hahah this reminds me of zoolander.

but seriousy. i love the smell of the gas station. every chance i get, i get out of the car just so i can smell the air of the gas station.

i'm a freak yea i know.

To me, it just seems really unlikely that a cigarette cherry

can cause a spark or even a flame small enough to ignite vapors.

I've actually had a tin of gasoline before and flicked a cigarette

into it (just to see) and the cigarette hit and just went out.

Originally posted by Devilush

i love the smell of the gas station. every chance i get, i get out of the car just so i can smell the air of the gas station.

WORD

Originally posted by Dirty_habiT

I've actually had a tin of gasoline before and flicked a cigarette

into it (just to see) and the cigarette hit and just went out.

are you sure it wasn't water in the tin?

of course it is unlikely, its also unlikely that youll get seriously hurt doing alot of other dangerous shit, but i mean...why test it?

a gas station completely blew the fuck up in my hometown because of a cigarette.

I remember reading about a girl that died because the static electricity from her polyester pants set off a spark that ignited the entire pump...and her.

Damn... I don't really do it to test it. I also don't spank mustangs

all day long in the work truck to see if there's a cop waiting

for me up the road.

If someone with a mustang were to smoke at the pump

they'd probably blow up.:lick:

Originally posted by Devilush

hahah this reminds me of zoolander.

.

i thought the same thing..

"freak gasoline accident".

:lick:

Originally posted by Dirty_habiT

To me, it just seems really unlikely that a cigarette cherry

can cause a spark or even a flame small enough to ignite vapors.

I've actually had a tin of gasoline before and flicked a cigarette

into it (just to see) and the cigarette hit and just went out.

i think you wouldn't be able to do this again if you tried...

the first time i pumped gas using a credit card the guy talked over the loudspeaker and kept saying i had credit problems and i thought he was talking to someone else and i kept trying to pump gas like a moron

oh yeah and on 4th of july i aimed bottle rockets at a gas station but nothing happened

Yeah I smoke at the pump everytime. When people say something about it i usually tell them to shut up before i kill everyone. They suddenly realize that they are acting silly and go about their way. I mean I can press the button down on my lighter and have the stream of gas from it not ignite on the cherry so who knows. I personally don't care and am ready to die at any minute. Hopefully none of you are around when it happens cuz you are coming with me.

who cares......:mad:

the cigarette is nothing but a coal ..... for gasoline to ignite, it needs an open flame. dummies

yuck, i'll be across the street with a lawn chair, popcorn, a spliff, and some tea. it would be very entertaining.:)

Originally posted by Pistol

getting in and out of your car then touching the handle could sometimes cause a spark then a kick ass home made flame thrower. or even using a cell phone while pumping, gas that is.

 

while a static electricy spark from clothes or car could, and has, started a fire at a gas station..as for the cell phone thing:

"No real-world evidence exists to support these claims . Although Internet rumors have circulated since 1999 to the effect that cell phone use near gas pumps can cause fires or explosions by igniting gasoline vapors (prompting many service stations to post warnings on their pumps), not a single case has ever been documented. "

from: URBAN LeGENDS

Originally posted by nomadawhat

while a static electricy spark from clothes or car could, and has, started a fire at a gas station..as for the cell phone thing:

 

"No real-world evidence exists to support these claims . Although Internet rumors have circulated since 1999 to the effect that cell phone use near gas pumps can cause fires or explosions by igniting gasoline vapors (prompting many service stations to post warnings on their pumps), not a single case has ever been documented. "

 

 

from: URBAN LeGENDS

i heard of all that

what kind of evidence do you need? a picture of the spark? I bet that'd make an awesome picture if it actually was a spark igniting gasoline vapors.... anyhow, I'll probably smoke at the pump tomorrow, and I promise I'll live to speak of it another day.... I never die in gas explosions.

sure.. i bet you could do it your whole life and be fine... just like you could play with plastic bags your whole life and never suffocate or blow dry your hair while standing in a full bathtub and never die.. but it could all happen... i almost burned down my house playing w/ gasoline as a kid and have never again thought about testing its explosiveness....

A lesson HARD learned.

http://audubonfd.com/Pics2001/oaklyngas/01.jpg'>

Originally posted by nomadawhat

i almost burned down my house playing w/ gasoline as a kid and have never again thought about testing its explosiveness....

me too. my first girlfriend burnt down two houses. one when she was 4 and another as a teenager.

Natural Selection

Originally posted by Dirty_habiT

To me, it just seems really unlikely that a cigarette cherry

can cause a spark or even a flame small enough to ignite vapors.

I've actually had a tin of gasoline before and flicked a cigarette

into it (just to see) and the cigarette hit and just went out.

next time i hear of some moron dying a ridiculously stoopid accidental death, i'll think of you. :D

Originally posted by mr.yuck

When people say something about it i usually tell them to shut up before i kill everyone.

hahahaha

idk man.. that isn't a theory I would be willing to test out. and btw, it's

an ember not a coal, and a hot enough ember will ignite gas.

*edit because I am retardedism

pssh, gas isn't even flammable. it's just a corporate conspiracy to get people to buy more gas.

hahaha, it's funny I post this and a bunch of ya'll's dicks shrivel up.

Who the fuck really cares? Even if you were smoking at the pump, I am almost certain there are more than a couple of fail-safes that the station has implemented just for that situation. I'm sure the worst thing that would happen is a small burn consuming the fuel already pumped out (possibly including yourself and/or a vehicle). No biggie. If you survive, you could sue them, get reconstructive surgery, and never have to work again- all because of a mistake you made.

Even if you were to die, what's the big deal? Everyone does it at some point, I really don't see the stigma attached to it (I do to a point, but really, is it that big of a deal?). At least you'd be able to make the Darwin Awards.

the real deal. for those who care

http://www.energy.gov.ab.ca/com/Room/Publi...soline+FAQs.htm

Are there safety hazards associated with gasoline?

The single greatest hazard of gasoline is fire or explosion. Liquid gasoline does not burn, but gasoline vapours do. Because the vapours are heavier than air, they disperse slowly into the atmosphere and tend to linger at ground level; vapours can be ignited by a match, cigarette, hot exhaust pipe, faulty wiring, pilot light or any spark.

proof:

http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/ae1.cfm

Question

Do you know where to find information on the temperature at the tip of a lit cigarette, both during drawing on it and when it is not being drawn on? John Grisham in his book the PARTNER contends that he splashed gasoline around his Chevy Blazer, lit a cigarette and threw it on the gasoline, and it exploded. I know that gasoline has an autoignition temperature of 495 F and I do not believe the end of a burning cigarette comes near 495degrees. If you can help I would sure appreciate it, it's one of those things that will drive me crazy if I don't find a way to prove my theory.!

Asked by: Mike

Answer

Well, Mike here it is:

We performed a series of experiments in order to determine the actual temperature of the lit cigarette. Here are the results for the temperature at different locations and under different conditions:

Temperature without drawing:

Side of the lit portion: 400 deg C (or 752 deg F)

Middle of the lit portion: 580 deg C (or 1112 deg F)

Temperature during drawing:

Middle of the lit portion: 700 deg C (or 1292 deg F)

The above numbers represent the average we obtained by performing several trials and can be considered accurate to within 50 deg C. A standard Fe-CuNi digital thermocouple thermometer was used in all trials.

The Autoignition Temperature of a standard unleaded gasoline can be anywhere from 260 to 460 degrees C (or 500 to 860 deg F) as quoted on the FAQ: Automotive Gasoline Web Page by Bruce Hamilton (this page is also an excellent and accurate resource about the science of gasoline)

So as you can see the temperature of the cigarette, even at the side of the lit portion, is more than enough to cause gasoline to autoignite. However, there are many other factors that one should take into account. It matters how the cigarette actually falls onto the surface to the gasoline. There is a lower chance of autoignition if the cigarette falls on it's side where the temperature is lower. Also, the temperature of the gasoline itself matters. If the gasoline is cold to start with then there is again a lower chance of autoignition. One should also consider the amount of the gasoline that you have, namely if you have a large volume of gasoline that would mean that the there is enough surrounding liquid for the heat to go into and therefore the temperature of the gasoline-cigar contact spot would due to heat conduction of the gasoline decrease rapidly, therefore reducing the chance for autoignition. On the contrary, if you have a nice thin film of the gasoline, the chances of the autoignition increase. Also, the evaporation of the gasoline at the point of the contact will also act to reduce the actual contact temperature rapidly.

We are aware of at least one experimental trial (conducted by our colleague at the university) where the gasoline did not ignite upon contact with a lit cigar. This just means that all of the above conditions were not in favour of the ignition.

However, It is important to realize that the gasoline vapour has a much lower autoignition temperature than the gasoline itself. Namely, if you spill gasoline on a hot road (say in the hot summer day) you will be able to ignite gasoline by contact with a cigarette easily, just because of the gasoline vapour layer that would be produced above the surface of the gasoline. Not to even mention throwing the cigarette into the container with gasoline that has been closed for some time and is therefore full of gasoline vapours.

So for all of you smokers out there that are wondering why you are not allowed to smoke at gas pump stations, these are the real scientific reasons. It is dangerous and science is telling us that the temperature of the cigarette, given the appropriate conditions, is enough to cause gasoline to autoignite (and in case of the gas pump station this would be disastrous.)

my dad drives those gas trucks for mobil. he said, what you really have to worry about is the gas vapors, since there in the air, there easier to ignite than the gas. :dazed:

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