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So the other day I was puffing away outside the bank and wondering about the following:Do you end up inhaling more nicotine by smoking the pack of cigarettes one by one, or by smoking all the cigarettes at once? .....I think i got the answer, but would like a second opinion.(In your Gedankenexperiment, try and let the number of cigs to infinity...)

Assuming nicotine is absorbed via diffusion in the lungs. IIRC, the rate of diffusion is a function of the difference in the concentrations across the boundary (the concentration gradient). The amount of nicotine absorbed is the integral over time of th diffusion rate. Let us assume that the time spent by the smoke in the lungs is the same in both the cases. In the one by one case, let the initial concentration by c and the time of inhalation be T. The total inhalation will be N*integratal(c-c_blood over T). In the N cigarette case the initial concentration will be Nc and the time will be T and the total inhalation will be integral (Nc -c_blood over T). In the case of the N cigarettes, the concentration in the blood will rise faster and hence the rate of diffusion will fall faster. So the amount of nicotine absorbed will be less.

The idle burn rate of each cigarette will stay about the same, while the burn rate per cigarette when you suck will go down. Since your suck will be spread over more cigarettes. So each cigarette will do a higher percentage of its burning just drifting off into the air, rather than being sucked.It may also be that the lower rate of airflow per cigarette when sucking causes a less intense burn, and a less smoggy output.The rate at which you suck in smoke will increase, so the duration of any suck will simply go down. It will only take a quarter second to inhale. But I don't even think this will make the smoke fresher, or more dense and powerful or stronger in terms of ionization or something. You'll probaby get more leaks of fresh air around the edges of the cigarette.In general, a cigarette is a mechanism for delivering smoke. If you tinker with a process that has been perfected over years towards this purpose, you will decrease its efficiency and effectiveness. The diameter of a cigarette is a product of natural selection. 20 cigarettes taped together to make a really big cigarette won't work very well.