What did the dog say when he saw fireworks go
off??? Nothing silly, dogs can’t talk!! Here’s
another one: what do fireworks and hot dogs
have in common with you?? The answer is
actually quite a bit more than you would think!!
Here’s why. The same process that fuels those
holiday explosions is going on inside a grill when
you cook a hot dog and inside your body when
you eat that hot dog!!
Packed inside fireworks is a mix of a few
chemicals, one of which is powdered charcoal
which is fuel for the firework. Charcoal, once
used widely for outdoor grilling (though now
often replaced with gas grilling), is still the
primary fuel choice for those grilling away for
home for example, at a campsite. Those lumps
of charcoal are mostly carbon atoms all pressed
together. When charcoal burns, the carbon
reacts with oxygen to form carbon dioxide. In
the case of your grill, carbon in the charcoal
combines with oxygen in the air. That reaction
releases energy in the form of heat and light
which is used to cook your hot dog. Take away
the oxygen and the reaction stops. Add more
oxygen and it speeds up. That’s why sometimes
you blow on a fire to get it going better. In the
event that there is a LOT of oxygen, something
explosive can happen.
That’s pretty much how fireworks work except
they don’t use oxygen from the air. Oxygen is
available HUGE quantities inside the firework in
the form of another chemical, potassium nitrate
or KNO3 (the O stands for the oxygen.) While
charcoal in your grill may take an hour or more
to burn down, all that oxygen packed in the
firework makes the carbon dioxide, heat and
light explode out of the firework in a split
second.
What’s amazing is the explosives in a single
ordinary firework only contain about the same
chemical energy as a plain old hot dog. That is,
when you eat a hot dog you are afforded the
same amount of energy as in that firework. You
and your AMAZING body just burn through the
fuel in the hot dog in a slow and controlled way.
Just like charcoal, a hot dog contains carbon and
after you eat it, your body breaks it down slowly.
Your body manages each step in the breakdown
process to release only small bits of energy at a
time so can do all the things you do in a given
day.
Just like a firework, the process inside your body
requires oxygen which is why you breathe it in.
Without oxygen, your internal fire would go out.
Just like a firework, the process inside your body
produces carbon dioxide which you breathe out
with every exhale. Just like the firework, the
process inside your body creates heat but just
enough to keep your body warm. And just like
the firework, the process inside your body
produces light although not very much. Very
sensitive cameras have shown that our bodies
actual glow. Your body is AMAZING!!
It turns out we have a LOT in common with
fireworks than you might think. In fact, when our
bodies work at their best, our lives can be one
long, slow, well-controlled, beautiful display. Of
course, it’s important at every age, that your body
has clear communication from your brain via the
nerve system to run efficiently and effectively.
Misalignment of spinal bones can distort that
communication and keep any or all of your parts
from working the way it was meant to. Your
family chiropractor can help you with that. He or
she will ensure that your nerve/communication
system works efficiently and allows you to be the
most beautiful explosion of life possible.
AMAZING!!
—By Judy Nutz
Campanale,
DC, ACP
