I have a question for people into science and chemistry etc.

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My comments refer to the character The Joker from the Batman franchise and something shown in the Dark Knight.

1) Is there a chemical compound that would make permanent your hair green,lips ruby red and skin white? (Yes it's fictitious but I was curious.)

2) I or someone can slam your head into a wall and do damage etc. (how much depends on force etc.) So I'm curious about the "Pen Trick" A) How much force would you have to put to a pen to wedge it into a table lets say a basic wood table) B) How much force would have to then be applied to slamming your head down to do what the Joker did to that guy? (Is any of these 2 ideas feasibly possible?


I'm sorry if I offended/disturbed anyone with my sick interest in this character but I was curious the REAL LIFE Scientifics of the fictional world LOL! Sorry once again.

That is an AWESOME question!!
I cannot answer about the chemicals required to make you look joker-esk.
Chlorine for the skin, I guess.

But one thing I learned in the Army was that our eyes are only as strong as grapes. So I think the pen trick would work.

I know lets test it, what could be better then that, all we have to do is to start an advertisement on the internet and promise them a cookie or something.

As for 1) I think he was supposed to be wearing make-up. That's why it looked so smeary from one scene to another.

As for 2) I think the pencil poked through the bloke's eye into his frontal lobe. I don't know whether this would instantly kill someone or not.

It would really depend on the material the pen is made from (metal or plastic) and the thickness of that material. A tube is a very strong shape, strong than a solid bar. It has two sufaces as opposed to one. So yes it is very likely that a pen could penetrate the human skin, skull and brain.
Try stabbing an apple with a drinking straw. If you hit it straight down you will find that it will penetrate. Of course the straw has little lateral strength.
Isn't science fun?

Chlorine as mentioned above may whiten the skin, it also in high concentrations turns hair green (and burns skin) as hair grows though it would grow through in it's natural colour unless the hair folicles were damaged or mutated (highly unlikely) severe chlorine burns may destroy the folicles altogether anyway. In terms of chemicals that would prolong the effects indefinitely, there possibly are, but may kill you as a side-effect.

A nibbed fountain pen may work well as they're sharp (ish) it's likely that you could reproduce the effect in the film. First time around with a human, may prove difficult unless you're lucky and the pen would have to be firmly embedded in the table otherwise the skull may just push it over if the force applied wasn't perfectly vertical.

Unless the damage was deep and substantial, the process of healing and scarring would produce pink skin and irregular hair at best. Are there chemicals out there? I wouldn't doubt it - there is probably a shelf in a plastic surgeon's office that could bleach the skin and cause it to warp or distend.

As for the pen trick... there is a lot of fluid and tissue in that area. It would take some force to impact someone's head with enough velocity or weight to completely penetrate the skull. More likely, unless it is a top-line pen, the pen is going to fracture and split - which will still do plenty of damage.


M.

Or if you had THIS:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitiligo

your skin would go white.


oh and don't call me bozo

Further, unless you're Sam Winchester in Supernatural and your pupil covers the entire front of your eye, the pupil's strength doesn't enter into it. That's like claiming that since the tibia is the strongest bone in the body, it's therefore impossible to slash through someone's thigh.

A pen (or pencil) thrust vigorously into the orbit of the eye could well penetrate through it, and through the thin layer of bone behind the eye, to penetrate the brain. Odds are poor that you'd kill someone instantly that way, but I suppose it is possible, if the pen/pencil hit just right...

No, there is nothing in the real world that could permanently stain your skin white and your hair green. Those of us who like the comic let that slide - it's no less plausible than a millionaire frightening criminals by dressing up like a six-foot bat, after all.