Timeline for Mineral that explodes when cooling down
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
29 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 9, 2017 at 7:41 | comment | added | LLlAMnYP | @ron also If you don't believe me, try the same experiment using a bottle made of any of the polymers made for cryogenic laboratory work it's just a matter of what's more and less compressible. If you pour a few drops of liquid nitrogen into a plastic vessel, it'll also explode just fine. | |
| May 9, 2017 at 7:35 | comment | added | LLlAMnYP | @ron as the water freezes, it doesn't have enough space for the water molecules to settle at the optimal distance from each other, so the bonds that form between them don't lower energy as much as they could. When the cast iron vessel is ruptured, the remaining energy from bonding of water molecules is suddenly released. | |
| May 7, 2017 at 17:24 | comment | added | RonJohn | @LLlAMnYP so what causes the cast iron ice bomb to explode, whereas the same amount of water in a similar sized plastic container does not explode? | |
| May 6, 2017 at 14:25 | comment | added | Tim | It would be great if you found an image which you're legally allowed to use, attributed it appropriately. | |
| May 5, 2017 at 20:18 | comment | added | supercat | I think beer is violent not because of the water freezing (though that does break the glass) but because of the evolution of dissolved CO2 gas. | |
| May 4, 2017 at 15:40 | comment | added | LLlAMnYP | @ron but forming bonds lowers energy. Breaking them will consume part of the energy of thr explosion. | |
| May 4, 2017 at 15:24 | comment | added | RonJohn | @LLlAMnYP where else could the energy have come from? The breaking of bonds between the iron crystals. If you don't believe me, try the same experiment using a bottle made of any of the polymers made for cryogenic laboratory work. | |
| May 4, 2017 at 15:09 | comment | added | LLlAMnYP | @RonJohn there certainly is an energy release, the release of bulk strain of the freezing water-ice mix. It's quite violent, see this (where else could the energy have come from?) | |
| May 4, 2017 at 14:04 | comment | added | RonJohn | I wouldn't call that an explosion, since there's no energy release. | |
| May 4, 2017 at 2:55 | comment | added | Destructible Lemon | Remember: space is not cold; the only way something in space would get dangerously cold is by cooling systems, which somehow overwork, and heating systems also failing at the same time | |
| May 3, 2017 at 18:10 | comment | added | Blutkoete | Now I'm thinking about really making this a beer transporter, as putting not only the crew at the risk of dying but also putting tons of beer at risk of being lost to space forever adds so much more tension to the story. | |
| May 3, 2017 at 17:36 | comment | added | anon | No, you got it right the first time. That's water. | |
| May 3, 2017 at 17:23 | comment | added | Mad Physicist | @Zibbobz. How would it become solid then? | |
| May 3, 2017 at 17:22 | comment | added | Zibbobz | @MadPhysicist Sorry, I misspoke. I meant an increase in volume, not mass. | |
| May 3, 2017 at 16:41 | comment | added | Mad Physicist | @Zibbobz. Increase in mass sounds like a very unphysical thing, unless of course is absorbing energy at the conversion rate or m=e/c^2. That would cause a much more violent situation than the mere increase in mass. | |
| May 3, 2017 at 16:27 | comment | added | Zibbobz | For a more dangerous solid-state explosion, go for an alien compound that increases exponentially in mass when turned into a solid state. Would be extremely useful in construction, and extremely dangerous if storage procedures were to fail. | |
| May 3, 2017 at 15:20 | comment | added | ruakh | @MadPhysicist: But when water expands during freezing, it doesn't "scale up" geometrically. | |
| May 3, 2017 at 13:47 | comment | added | MooseBoys | Put the water cargo container next to some sodium metal. | |
| May 3, 2017 at 12:05 | comment | added | Jeremy | Of course, water is optimally transported in dehydrated form. | |
| May 3, 2017 at 11:10 | comment | added | Mad Physicist | @ruakh. Imagine any shape with a hole in the middle. If you scale the whole thing up, the hole gets bigger too. | |
| May 3, 2017 at 10:43 | comment | added | Baldrickk | @dot_Sp0T assuming planet to planet transfers, it will want protection from the effects of re-entry. In space, you probably want to shield it from the solar wind - you just have to look at comets to see how it can impact ice. | |
| May 3, 2017 at 10:05 | comment | added | dot_Sp0T | @Baldrickk the ice does not care if it is in a vacuum. Certainly the crew needs access to some water - but if this is a water transport then definitely not all of it :) | |
| May 3, 2017 at 9:47 | comment | added | Baldrickk | @dot_Sp0T liquid water is more dense and so you can haul more of it in the same storage area as Ice. If crew are meant to have access to the Cargo bay, then it needs to be kept at room temperature anyway, so Ice would melt. Radiating heat in space is more problematic than generating more. | |
| May 3, 2017 at 6:29 | comment | added | Sumyrda - remember Monica | This happened to me with a soda bottle. The bottle went off like a torpedo, shot the fridge door open and proceeded to distribute its contents all over the kitchen. Now you just need a reason to transport soda bottles on a space ship. | |
| May 3, 2017 at 5:01 | comment | added | ruakh | @MadPhysicist: OK, I'll bite. Why would something suspended in water not be crushed when the ice expanded? | |
| May 2, 2017 at 22:09 | comment | added | Mad Physicist | Keep in mind that something suspended in water would not be crushed when the ice expanded. But it might end up in a slight vacuum, which could cause a problem in and of itself. | |
| May 2, 2017 at 21:36 | comment | added | adaliabooks | I'd combine this with something else, transport something dangerous stored in water or that uses water and if it freezes it causes an explosion. | |
| May 2, 2017 at 21:14 | comment | added | dot_Sp0T | Great find, but why would they want to transport water in a fluid form? Solid ice is way easier to handle and does require less power, environment control, everything really. | |
| May 2, 2017 at 19:50 | history | answered | Willk | CC BY-SA 3.0 |