10 thoughts on “Nutty Monster on Campus Act I, p. 11”

  1. …
    Alrighty, then.
    For extra extra credit, how many years in solitary confinement is Prof. Fnirp likely to get when word of this experiment gets out?
    Especially if he can’t reassemble his test subject well enough that no one can tell the difference?

  2. The experimental setup is rather interesting from engineerimg point of view. First of all, it purifies all the elements of the sample without residue or by-products. Even more unbelievably, it pressurises the gaseous elements. Usually, in a table-top setup, you would collect the gases into open upside-down bottles which are submerged in a pool of water.

    As such, doing the test to a human subject is not really useful. You could do the same, with lower energy consumption, to an ant, or a ham sandwhich, and get the same results about the elemental composition.

    • Yes, but a ham sandwich would not satisfy a mad scientist’s yearning for spectacle.

      • And it wouldn’t supply any answers to metaphysical questions regarding the human soul, either.

        Or maybe it would? Depending on who made the ham sandwich, and whether they put their heart and soul into it.

  3. Very inaccurate measurements. Though it seems to add up according to the nerdy student, I bet it will go along the lines: “We are missing 21 grams (~0,74 oz.), how would you explain that?”

    • Iron, Selenium, Zinc, and other trace elements.

      Oh, and the intangible human soul, of course.

  4. Here’s my math, with the amount of each element in the center column and the running total in the middle:

    O | 85:06 | 85:06
    H | 13:02 | 98:08
    C | 24:04 | 122:12
    N | 4:03 | 126:15
    Ca | 1:15 | 128:14
    P | 1:04 | 130:02
    S | 0:05 | 130:07
    Na | 0:03 | 130:10
    Cl | 0:03 | 130:13
    Mg | 0:02 | 130:15

    So, we seem to be missing 8 oz. (= 131 lb. 7 oz – 130 lb. 15 oz.). Now the question is, did the character miscalculate, did I miscalculate, or did the author miscalculate (not mutally exclusive possibilites)?

    • Most likely the author miscalculated; something to look at before the Internet Archive edition goes in.

      • Gah! I found my mistake: I somehow missed the potassium.

        O | 85:06 | 085:06
        H | 13:02 | 098:08
        C | 24:04 | 122:12
        N | 04:03 | 126:15
        Ca | 01:15 | 128:14
        P | 01:04 | 130:02
        K | 00:08 | 130:10
        S | 00:05 | 130:15
        Na | 00:03 | 131:02
        Cl | 00:03 | 131:05
        Mg | 00:02 | 131:07

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