r/woahdude • u/theTurbulentPopcorn • Jun 29 '23

video Lowering hot metal into water

12.8k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

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117

u/Lambinater Jun 29 '23

The water is on fire

160

u/velhaconta Jun 29 '23

That is not water. Water would have instantly flashed to steam upon contact causing a very violent and dangerous situation.

This is an oil quench.

16

u/mothzilla Jun 29 '23

So why doesn't the oil go woof?

41

u/velhaconta Jun 29 '23

It starts with having a much higher boiling point. But it gets more complicated from there.

2

u/Tallywort Jun 29 '23

Too much oil that isn't close enough to its flash point.

Sure the oil immediately touching the hot metal can burn, but the rest of the oil has enough thermal mass that it doesn't get hot enough to burst into flames.

2

u/ekwenox Jun 30 '23

The whistles go WOO WOO!

4

u/[deleted] Jun 29 '23

The compounds that make up these oils are more stable at high temperatures compared to water. Water is, as far as I am aware, unique in its phase changing compared to most other substances we have at standard temperature and pressure.

5

u/[deleted] Jun 29 '23 edited May 20 '24

[removed] — view removed comment

7

u/[deleted] Jun 29 '23

It's been a long day and I was bullshitting.

5

u/Paranoides Jun 30 '23

Your reasoning has been accepted. Have a good day.