4 ms·

A temperature difference of 63 °C is still an awful lot easier to deal with than a temperature difference of 280 °C

• dogma1138 10y ago
  That isn't how physics work, when something boils it boils. Also when you factor in heat transfer coefficients then the liquid oxygen in tank is actually "heating" the liquid helium pretty substantially as it has considerably higher heat conductivity than air. ;) The analogy of boiling water into boiling oil is pretty close one as far as the process goes, the boiling oil would evaporate the boiling water instantly and things go boom, the liquid oxygen would evaporate the liquid helium instantly and things go boom.
  • Ankaios 10y ago
    The helium is in the gas phase and at thermal equilibrium with the surrounding oxygen.
    • dogma1138 10y ago
      And 757 times it's liquid volume, hence the boom part.