Plugsuits and LCL Mechanics

[Kiel]

Well, It seems almost everyone's agreed that the plugsuit provides certain life support functions.

Also, in the episode when Shinji's been absorbed by that shadowy, sphere shaped angel (I forgot its name, please don't eat me and sell my bones for beer money),

Shinji checks his plugsuit's arm which has a battery life indicator and what could possibly be a clock.

I'd say a plugsuit is really not much more than a spiffy wetsuit with some integral features. Almost everyone at NERV has some kind of uniform, why not the kids? They've got the right to look spiffy when they're fighting angels, right?

What I'd like to know is what are plugsuits made out of? Is it rubber? Latex? PVC? Plastic? Concentrated super flexible fibreglass?

Oh, and do they chaif at all? They're skintight and kinda rubbery...I think they'd chaif. =_=;;

[Hexon.Arq]

Probably latex. The gloves might have some lining in them, but it's pretty hard to suck the air out of a wetsuit underlining without having all kinds of lumps.

I tend to think of the "life support functions of the suit" Shinji mentions as just technical jargon thrown in. What can it possibly do that wouldn't be done externally? Heating? Why? LCL is warm, isn't it?

I want to know what Shinji actually says in that scene. Is he reffering to the suit specifically, or does he just talk about life support in general, which the suit might be gauging electronically in the even of panel failure?

[sadsadshinji]

er...i was aware that a molecular change would be a chemical change, affecting the structure of the molecule, so i guess LCD screens would not be chemical changes, i need to re-read my chem...lol
and the plug suits are probably made of some kind of rubber (like latex? who knows) but they are thicker than some might think.. and also, i think the support functions are in the suit, hence the little "backpack" area of the suit

[MAGI]

:roll: Why didn't I think to look in the Red Cross book? To answer the original question once and for all:

It has the effect of raising the synch-rate and protecting the body etc.

Yes, it helps to synchronise better.
I would also think that life support functions would go with it.
I can't comment on the material of the plug suit.
I don't know about the LCL, but I think it would be liquid.
In the manga, the plugsuit definitely has a clock. :)

[The Eva Monkey]

although, unless I'm mistaken, a change in molecular arrangement IS what happens when a liquid becomes a gas, or vice versa.

The difference between Liquids, Gases, and Solids is Density. It has nothing to do with Arrangement. An example of "arrangement" being an issue can be seen in oils and such where the chemical formula between compounds is the same, but arrangement is different, and the properties of the substance are different as well.

However in some instances arrangement plays a factor in solids/gases/liquids. Water forms a crystal structure, hence why Ice is less dense than water.

Changing the arrangement of the substance can alter its properties that govern what state it is in. For instance, there are elements that are gases in normal state but when combined are liquid. For example, water. Water is composed of Hydrogen and Oxygen, two gases.

I however still find this theory a bit perposterous. I prefer to believe that the change in arrangement makes the LCL perfectly transparent. There's no concrete evidence to suggest the LCL becomes gaseous.

Let me ask you Rachel, out of curiousity, was the fact that the pilots could speak in the LCL after it was charged one of the pushing points of the LCL Gas Theory?

[Tabris]

I guess the fact pilots can speak in the plugs greatly supports the LCL state-change theory. That, and a well-known picture of Shinji (during the episode featuring Sahaquiel, I think) with what appears to be drops of sweat (not air bubbles) falling off his face as he's shouting (I know you could argue they're visible because they may be a different density to LCL, but...)

I'd rather not endorse a gas or state-change theory, since I suspect liquid LCL would provide better protection from vibration/physical injury for the pilots, and a means of feeding them oxygen without the need for compressed gas containers, and then there's the whole 'entry plug/womb' association... but the fact pilots can speak puts a damper on it and reminds me not to get too hot and bothered about an obvious plot requirement.

[Lethal GD Weapon]

It is safe to say that LCL does not become gasious. Note that when Shiji is getting blasted by Ramiel the LCL is boiling. Gasses do not boil. Besides which, part of the reason why Link Connect Liquid would work is because it would act as a more effective medium for the transmittal of brain waves. Most gasses insulate, whereas a liquid would act as a conductor.

[MAGI]

This should get its own topic.

I suppose LCL would have to be lighter than water, as Rei's tear drops did fall downwards. And I suppose water and LCL won't mix. It's reminding me of olive oil. So I guess LCL will have to be not very dense. It also makes sense, that way, since the pilots may have to move around in the entry plug quickly, and too much friction, like water, would make them slow, and it also irritates the eyes more.
The thing that makes me think it doesn't turn into gas is that no one every said it did, and there isn't any extra room for the liquid to expand to.

[sadsadshinji]

mind you,usually turning something into a gas involves vaporization, so it might get pretty toasty
and since LCL is a mystery fluid, we can only guess at what it is made of. i agree with MAGI that it is probably like oil, and must be non-polar (like oil) so that water wouldnt mix with it. i believe the clarity in the entry plug has to do with the syncronization process...the visual feed begins coming in, and since the pilot is linked with the eva, they see what the eva sees?

[The Eva Monkey]

I've had a very difficult time trying to accept this idea, specifically for the fact that its never expressly stated. Granted a lot of things in Evangelion are ambigous or loosely defined, but I think its extremely near-sighted of them to have left something like this undefined.

Speech has no bearing on LCL, as we see the pilots capable of speech in the LCL whether electrically charged or not. Two instances come to mind, Episode 13, after the pilots have been ejected from their Evas, and secondly, when Shinji is swallowed by Leliel in episode 16. He very clearly is in the yellow "liquid" LCL.

Characters being able to sweat and cry in anime is a way to convey emotion. When a character has a sweat drop, or more than one sweat drop, it is often to convey nervousness, or stress. They really aren't sweating that profusely, its merely the animators conveying their frantic, confused, or embarassed state.

As for being able to cry in LCL, I would either chalk it up as a production oversight, or another case of animators choosing to defy the laws of physics for effect. Seriously, how often does anime conform to the laws of physics. I'll make a list of physics bloopers in Eva if you like.

If you acknowledge that pilots can speak in LCL, charged or not, and acknowledge that the sweat drops and tears are more there to convey emotional state than anything else, there's really not much grounds for the LCL density change theory.

[Dave]

I hadn't realized that there were any physics laws pertaining to LCL that Eva could break. :?

[Reichu]

Let me ask you Rachel, out of curiousity, was the fact that the pilots could speak in the LCL after it was charged one of the pushing points of the LCL Gas Theory?

No, it wasn't. Kind of hard to forget Shinji and his "Uh... Kimochi warui" from episode #01.

Most of you have been raising points that were brought up in the threads I posted earlier. Is it really that hard to read the original threads before you say, "omg this theory sucks because..."?

Clearly, SOMEthing happens to the LCL, as the script says it "becomes clear with the electrification". Some sort of change occurs: Its molecular arrangement is altered and it loses its amber color. Perhaps as we continue to translate the scripts, there may be more explicit statements about the issue.

[Hexon.Arq]

Maybe whatever produces the onscreen images emits some kind of funky lighting that balances out the tint. Or maybe PPPPTTTTTHHHHHP...

[Reichu]

Or maybe PPPPTTTTTHHHHHP...

You know, I never considered that possibility. You have a good point.

[thewayneiac]

The opponents of the, "LCL becomes gaseous," theory should watch ep. 5 again. During Unit 00's restart test, you see no bubbles during any of Rei's dialog, but when the test ends and the EVA powers down, the LCL turns orange again, and her sigh of relief makes bubbles. You see bubbles in the LCL only when it is orange, never when it is clear. Ramiel's beam causes the LCL to turn orange again before it boils.

[Reichu]

You see bubbles in the LCL only when it is orange, never when it is clear. Ramiel's beam causes the LCL to turn orange again before it boils.

The "shock bubbles" from #25'? The LCL was awfully clear then.

[sadsadshinji]

edited: i am sorry...
i understand what you said about the color, but i think that vaporizing something wouldnt do much good, as i previously stated, and also, as others have stated, that the gas wouldnt offer much protection

[Reichu]

It boiled because it wasn't a gas at the time.

Read the original thread. Please.

[Hexon.Arq]

The "shock bubbles" from #25'? The LCL was awfully clear then.

Let's not forget Hard Boiling Shinji in #5.

Color has nothing to do with property. It is simply an artistic liberty taken when it becomes too obvious that putting bubbles in a clear environment would give it the appearance of water.

[Reichu]

Let's not forget Hard Boiling Shinji in #5.

The LCL was yellow there.

Color has nothing to do with property.

With LCL, it apparently does. It's yellow when it's "obviously" a liquid, and it becomes clear when it is electrified and "changes its molecular arrangement", possibly on a phasic level, as has been considered.