3 ms·
I've always wondered about the surface tension and viscosity of lava. Must vary with temperature, I suppose.
by michaelfeathers 11y ago
I've always wondered about the surface tension and viscosity of lava. Must vary with temperature, I suppose.
- thaumasiotes 11y agoCursory searching shows that the viscosity of lava indeed varies with temperature and chemical composition: http://www.gso.uri.edu/lava/MagmaProperties/properties.html http://www.gso.uri.edu/lava/MagmaProperties/properties.html There's a series of articles in wired discussing basically this question: http://www.wired.com/2011/12/the-right-and-wrong-way-to-die-when-you-fall-into-lava/ http://www.wired.com/2011/12/the-right-and-wrong-way-to-die-... http://www.wired.com/2012/01/can-you-walk-on-lava-falling-into-lava-revisited/ http://www.wired.com/2012/01/can-you-walk-on-lava-falling-in... From the first: > Water has a density of 1000 kg/m3 and a viscosity of 0.00089 Pascal-seconds. > Lava has a density of 3100 kg/m3 and a viscosity of 100-1000 Pascal-seconds. > most of the red-hot lava pictures in movies [are] likely basaltic lava at ~1,100 to 1,200°C (for comparison, your oven on broil is ~275°C) The general lesson here is that meat is much less dense than rock (astounding, I know) and that the more possible it is to penetrate a lava flow, the more likely that lava flow is to incinerate you just for being nearby. A steak that you managed to submerge in lava would most likely go through some combination of burning to a crisp and exploding (as any water within it rapidly vaporized).
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]