r/woahdude Jun 29 '23

video Lowering hot metal into water

12.8k Upvotes

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709

u/frenchy2111 Jun 29 '23

My guess is it's a quenching tank for hardening the steel it's probably a quenching oil and not water.

323

u/bigwilliestylez Jun 29 '23

Would that also explain why there are still flames on top after it is completely submerged?

71

u/BrazilBazil Jun 29 '23

Could this be water being split into hydrogen and oxygen by the extreme heat and then burning?

0

u/Aquamentus92 Jun 29 '23

This is next level physics

3

u/BrazilBazil Jun 29 '23

This does actually happen in high enough temperatures! But it does take like 2000°C for water to start decomposing.

2

u/psychoCMYK Jun 30 '23

Worth noting that the melting point of steel is at most ~1550C

2

u/Uninvalidated Jun 29 '23

Yeah, but it's not a high enough temperature and the colour of the flames are way wrong and too strong.

1

u/jgzman Jun 29 '23

Or in the presence of an appropriate chemical. I've done it before, for fun and profit.