Breath in the Ides of March

As I sit here sniffling – I have become quite aware of the air that I’m sharing with my fellow commuters. As I take a breath in – I’m inhaling the air those around me are gasping out. Oh the Joy.

On this (the Ides of March) I’m compelled to think about Julius Caesar and his final gasping breath. You might have heard that Caesar’s dying breath has had plenty of time to be distributed uniformly throughout our atmosphere… knowing of course that a typical breath is one liter of air, and (6x1023 molecules per mole)/(22.4 liters per mole) ~ (1/4)x1023 molecules = 2.5x1022 molecules per liter, and our atmosphere contains (2x1020 moles)*(6x1023 molecules per mole) = 12x1043 molecules or 1.2x1044 molecules… but you already knew that.

Bottom line – every breath we take contains (if his breath has been distributed equally throughout the atmosphere) about 5 molecules of air that Caesar gasped out as he gasped "Et tu Brutus?"…

Note: After reviewing what I just wrote - I’m apparently not to be left alone with hypochondriacs, fearful elderly or impressionable children – peace.