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  • .

  • Imagine being so strong,

  • and so powerful,

  • that you could physically

  • melt metal with your hands!

  • Gold,

  • iron,

  • and even titanium.

  • Technically, yes,

  • you can melt metal with your hands,

  • but not every type of metal.

  • There's a metal that's so soft

  • that it can melt at just under 30°C (85.6°F).

  • This metal is called gallium,

  • and after playing around with it in your hands for

  • just a couple of seconds,

  • it quickly liquefies.

  • There are other metals as well that have

  • the same melting temperature,

  • such as francium and cesium.

  • But you're going to want to stay away from them as

  • they're radioactive and

  • can catch on fire if they're not handled properly.

  • The great thing about gallium is

  • it's entirely safe for you to use.

  • It's essentially just extremely expensive Play-Doh.

  • But we can already melt these materials.

  • What would it be like

  • if you could melt every type of metal?

  • Melting metal is pretty difficult.

  • A regular campfire flame won't be able to do the trick.

  • It takes an incredibly high temperature to melt metal.

  • And to do this, we need foundries.

  • Foundries are used to reach extremely high temperatures

  • and maintain them.

  • Depending on what you want to melt, like

  • gold, for example,

  • the temperature needs to be nearly 1,000°C (1,832°F).

  • This means that in order for you to melt metal,

  • your hands would need to be at least this hot.

  • And since the max temperature your body can get to before dying

  • is a measly 44°C (115.7°F),

  • you'd end up melting yourself if your body went up to this temperature.

  • But let's assume you'd survive.

  • If you wanted to melt metal,

  • you'd have to be a walking furnace.

  • Not only would you be able to melt aluminum, iron, and steel,

  • you'd also be melting just about everything else you touched.

  • That's because you'd be as hot as molten lava.

  • You'd be a giant fireball of destruction.

  • But as quickly as you'd destroy everything around you,

  • you'd be just as easily destroyed.

  • But how?

  • Let's assume you're doing your thing and burning up some metal.

  • All of a sudden, it starts raining.

  • Instantly, a massive explosion would occur.

  • That's due to the water reacting with the hot molten metal.

  • If water, or any sort of moisture, touches the melting metal,

  • then it will expand to 1,600 times larger

  • than its original volume.

  • This creates a massive steam explosion

  • that spreads the hot liquid metal.

  • If you're not extremely careful,

  • you're bound to cause some severe damage to things

  • and people you won't want to hurt.

  • Melting metal with our bare hands might

  • sound like it could be fun,

  • but there's no reason you'd ever want to do it.

  • Apart from looking pretty,

  • metal is used in all kinds of electronics, cars and

  • even in some prescription drugs.

  • Metals are an essential part of the world we live in,

  • and we definitely wouldn't want to go around destroying and melting all of them.

  • But what would the world be like if metal had never existed?

  • Well, that sounds like a story for another WHAT IF.

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