• Question: what would happen if we poured liquid metal into water?

    Asked by littlestars to Ed, Hayley, Jason, Nathan, Sophie on 14 Mar 2013.
    • Photo: Hayley Evers-King

      Hayley Evers-King answered on 14 Mar 2013:

      It depends on the temperature and type of the metal and the temperature of the water. If the metal is liquid at room temperature (like mercury) it would sink! If its something molten like iron and the water is cold, there will be a lot of steam and the iron will solidify and if you leave it long enough it will rust! Other metals react differently with water – alkali metals like sodium go through an exothermic reaction and melt on contact with water!

    • Photo: Jason King

      Jason King answered on 14 Mar 2013:

      WIth metals, like iron that are solid at room temperature, as each drop hits the water, it would rapidly cool down and you would get a small pellet of metal. This was actually the way they used to make shot for bullets.

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