TOOTHLESS'S VOLLEY FROM A SCIENTIFIC POINT OF VIEW. Part 2
A scientific theory about how the acetylene blast is generated inside Toothless. How does Toothless' blast work? How is the blast generated inside a Night Fury's body? Dragon biology. Night Fury biology. How is Toothless constructed?
Half the job is done – acetylene gas has formed inside Toothless's body, but this gas is highly explosive and must be contained somehow, otherwise, God forbid, it could explode Toothless from the inside. Pure acetylene gas is safe at atmospheric pressure, but at pressures above 2 atmospheres, it becomes explosive – and regulating the pressure inside Toothless is quite difficult. Moreover, the gas can also liquefy inside the acetylene chamber, and liquid acetylene is a highly explosive substance and can explode under heat, impact, friction, or compression. In short, it's all very dangerous, and even the slightest impact could simply explode Toothless from the inside. But I've never seen a Night Fury explode. So, all this explosiveness is somehow regulated in Toothless's body. And it happens like this.
If acetylene is dissolved in acetone, the gas becomes completely safe. Incidentally, this is exactly how humans store acetylene gas – in cylinders and dissolved in acetone. I don't know if this is a coincidence or if humanity has observed how this happens in a dragon's body. But the fact remains: in Night Furies, the gas also dissolves in acetone and is stored in this form while the dragon is leading a peaceful life and doesn't need to fire its volleys at anyone.
The accumulator – this organ, by the way, is the longest in the dragon's body, where all the acetylene gas is stored. This organ has a porous, spongy structure impregnated with acetone. The gas entering the accumulator under pressure dissolves very well in acetone. Where does Toothless get the acetone? By the way, this is the same smelly liquid your mom uses to remove nail polish. But acetone can also be organic. This substance is the result of the breakdown of fats. And the Night Fury has a special organ that synthesizes acetone. Here it is—the acetosecretius, attached to the stomach. When the dragon eats fatty foods—fish, by the way, is a perfect example—this organ collects the fats, breaks them down, and transfers the resulting acetone to the storage chamber, where it permeates the entire spongy structure of the organ.
With these simple and complex manipulations, acetylene gas is formed in the Night Fury's body and entered the safe storage chamber. Now, enemy, beware—at any moment, the dragon can use its gas to fire a volley. And now we'll figure out how it does it.
When acetylene is mixed with air or oxygen, it creates a highly explosive mixture. Such a mixture is capable of exploding when it contains between 3 and 82% acetylene. The Night Fury mixes acetylene with oxygen in the right proportions, thereby controlling the detonation time of the blast.
When the dragon is ready to fire its blast, it begins to inhale air (have you ever noticed that Toothless does exactly this before firing?) and simultaneously opens a special valve, allowing gas to flow from the accumulator into the capillaries of this organ, called the mixing chamber. This is where the delicate work of mixing acetylene and oxygen in the right proportions takes place, depending on what the dragon wants to do: raze a watchtower to smithereens or warm up a sleeping place. The Night Fury can create a blast that detonates at a certain distance, or it can create a blast that detonates only upon impact with a target. Incidentally, this is the blast that Toothless uses most often. And this variety of blasts is regulated by the concentration of air in the acetylene mixture—the more oxygen, the faster the blast will detonate. To ensure the blast explodes upon impact, the dragon adds a little more acetone from the accumulator to the mixture. This may seem complicated to us, but for a dragon, it's effortless—all of its organs and brain centers work in perfect harmony. However, there have been cases of accidental self-explosion if the dragon's blast-producing organ was damaged...
By the way, my theory of acetylene production in the Night Fury's body also explains the glow of the dragon's spine when it enters what's known as alpha mode. You've probably already noticed that the part of the dragon that takes on a purple hue is the accumulator. This means the dragon's back is where all the acetylene gas is concentrated. When Toothless needs to deliver a powerful blow, he begins drawing a very large amount of acetylene from the accumulator in a very short time. This is a very complex and demanding process for the body. The accumulator begins to operate at its maximum capacity—as a result, it heats up and begins to glow purple.