It never fails, every time my boyfriend sneezes, I practically jump out of my skin. The power and force behind each sneeze is enough to launch a rocket. Mine, on the other hand are gentle and barely noticeable.
I've heard the average sneeze travels at about 100 miles per hour. The highest speed recorded was apparently 630 miles per hour. From this data and comparing my style of sneezing against my boyfriend's I wondered what made his so much stronger. Was there a formula to determine the exact speed of the sneeze?
His schnoz is way bigger than mine, so I figured that the length of the nose the sneeze would have to travel would vary the speed. After all, speed = distance / time. Surprisingly, our nose lengths, from bridge to tip are the same! The volumes, on the other hand, differed, but that doesn't fit into the equation.
I quickly abandoned my mathematical approach and dug up more information. The sneeze involves so much more than just the nose. I guess it seems obvious now that I've said it. I'm sure there's a formula for it, but I wouldn't even know where to start since the variables include the muscles of the face, nose, throat and chest. I suppose too that he is way more allergic to things than I am, so
his body is more equipped for pushing allergens out than mine. Who knows how to calculate that? Not me.
So what have we learned? The amount and size of muscles involved with the body's own defense system and need to push a sneeze out, are all variables for each person's sneeze speed. I'd be willing to bet, though, that Cam has probably broken the sound barrier with a few of his. I wonder if I could get hold of some sort of measuring device so I can get him in the record books. Would we get money for breaking a world record? Gotta be creative in this economy!
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