https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=Gjackexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2026-04-20T01:35:33ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1426:_Reduce_Your_Payments&diff=763631426: Reduce Your Payments2014-09-26T15:49:17Z<p>Gjack: /* Explanation */ changed "larger" to "different"</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1426<br />
| date = September 26, 2014<br />
| title = Reduce Your Payments<br />
| image = reduce_your_payments.png<br />
| titletext = I tried oxidizing them, but your bank uses some really weird paper and it wouldn't light.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Black Hat]] walks into a room where [[Cueball]] sits in an armchair. Black Hat says to Cueball that he can reduce his mortgage payments, while holding a docket of paper, presumably Cueball's payment check. Black Hat uses the same formulation many Internet advertisements use: "Discover this (strange/new/amazing...) trick to (lose weight/reduce your mortgage payments/meet amazing women)" known as {{w|clickbait}}. Cueball wants to know how and Black Hat responds by mentioning {{w|Sodium_borohydride|sodium borohydride (NaBH<sub>4</sub>)}}.<br />
<br />
Sodium borohydride is a strong {{w|Reducing_agent|reducing agent}}, meaning in a chemical reaction it will "{{w|redox|reduce}}" another substance. It is in fact used during the [http://www.borax.com/library/articles/news-and-events/news-release/paper's-tiger manufacture of paper], in order to bleach the pulp and improve the resulting paper's properties.<br />
<br />
This comic is a typical switcharound pun. Cueball expects the value (on a bill) paid to be reduced, while Black Hat uses the chemical meaning of reducing.<br />
<br />
The complementary chemical reaction to reduction is oxidation, which is what happens if the paper mortgage payment is burned, as referred to in the title text. They go together in {{w|redox}} reactions, which generally involve electron transfer from the {{w|chemical species}} which is oxidized to the one which is reduced.<br />
<br />
Black Hat's "weird trick" does alter the payment, yet in an unexpected manner, does not solve the actual problem, but in fact creates a different problem, in that Cueball has to reissue the payment check.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball sits on a sofa and Blackhat walks into the frame from behind.]<br />
:Blackhat: I discovered this weird trick for reducing your mortgage payments!<br />
:Cueball: What?<br />
:Blackhat: Sodium borohydride.<br />
:Cueball: ...I hate you.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>Gjackhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1426:_Reduce_Your_Payments&diff=763621426: Reduce Your Payments2014-09-26T15:46:31Z<p>Gjack: /* Explanation */ changed "bill(s)" to "payment(s)"</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1426<br />
| date = September 26, 2014<br />
| title = Reduce Your Payments<br />
| image = reduce_your_payments.png<br />
| titletext = I tried oxidizing them, but your bank uses some really weird paper and it wouldn't light.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Black Hat]] walks into a room where [[Cueball]] sits in an armchair. Black Hat says to Cueball that he can reduce his mortgage payments, while holding a docket of paper, presumably Cueball's payment check. Black Hat uses the same formulation many Internet advertisements use: "Discover this (strange/new/amazing...) trick to (lose weight/reduce your mortgage payments/meet amazing women)" known as {{w|clickbait}}. Cueball wants to know how and Black Hat responds by mentioning {{w|Sodium_borohydride|sodium borohydride (NaBH<sub>4</sub>)}}.<br />
<br />
Sodium borohydride is a strong {{w|Reducing_agent|reducing agent}}, meaning in a chemical reaction it will "{{w|redox|reduce}}" another substance. It is in fact used during the [http://www.borax.com/library/articles/news-and-events/news-release/paper's-tiger manufacture of paper], in order to bleach the pulp and improve the resulting paper's properties.<br />
<br />
This comic is a typical switcharound pun. Cueball expects the value (on a bill) paid to be reduced, while Black Hat uses the chemical meaning of reducing.<br />
<br />
The complementary chemical reaction to reduction is oxidation, which is what happens if the paper mortgage payment is burned, as referred to in the title text. They go together in {{w|redox}} reactions, which generally involve electron transfer from the {{w|chemical species}} which is oxidized to the one which is reduced.<br />
<br />
Black Hat's "weird trick" does alter the payment, yet in an unexpected manner, does not solve the actual problem, but in fact creates a larger problem, in that Cueball has to reissue the payment check.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball sits on a sofa and Blackhat walks into the frame from behind.]<br />
:Blackhat: I discovered this weird trick for reducing your mortgage payments!<br />
:Cueball: What?<br />
:Blackhat: Sodium borohydride.<br />
:Cueball: ...I hate you.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>Gjack