[penguicon-general] Thermite versus Liquid Nitrogen

[Rob Landley]

On Tuesday 01 August 2006 12:40 pm, Wolfger wrote:
> On 8/1/06, Rob Landley <rob at landley.net> wrote:
> >
> > On Monday 31 July 2006 8:18 pm, Tracy Worcester wrote:
> > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95KIPNUWhrA&NR
> >
> > Come on, they didn't use _nearly_ enough liquid nitrogen.
> 
> 
> I don't think the quantity mattered much, since the thermite melted the
> container the nitrogen was in.

It looked like the amount of thermite used was bigger in both mass and volume 
than the amount of liquid nitrogen used, and the ln2 was boiling away in its 
little container while they set up the fuse.

Whether the thermite would make it through a big bowl of liquid nitrogen like 
we threw in the pool is a far more interesting test.  (Yeah, it probably 
would.  The specific heat of ln2 is way lower than moten iron, and the 
interesting thing about thermite is it supplies its own oxygen once it's 
going.  But it would be a more interesting test.)

> And I'm not planning to add thermite to next year's Penguicon.
> >
> 
> Good. I think the hotel would have major issues with thermite being dumped
> into the swimming pool.

Or making a new pothole in its parking lot.

Rob
-- 
Never bet against the cheap plastic solution.