Thermite vs Ice | MythBusters | Season 6 Episode 23 | Full Episode 

AAAAA

I still can't believe he is gone. I expect movie or music stars to go early but never did i think grant. So sad

Well said @Kevin72836 and @feelincrispy7053 - - and let's not forget the equally tragic loss of Jesse Combes. Grant was an amazingly natural 'science communicator', both he and Jesse brought so much to Mythbusters in their own unique way. Such a terrible, immensely sad loss. And one really feels for their families. With the whole team it felt as though they were all as invested in the experiments as the viewers were, as though they were all as passionate about the show, and as interested in the outcomes as we were - and I don't think you can fake that enthusiasm just for the camera. Furthermore, the interaction between the teams, during and between builds, and experiments etc, was all the more entertaining because it wasn't scripted, there was genuine laughter. Rest now Grant and Jesse: you are so sorely missed, you will not be forgotten. And thank you both for your dedication, skill and enthusiasm. Along with the entire Mythbusters team you made Science accessible and S.T.E.A.M. cool. Thank you all. Zac Daunt-Jones.

I didn't know till now.

❤

Killed by Sterling Archer's third biggest fear... It can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time. That's what makes it so terrifying 😳

Imagine being under that. I wonder what it did to those cars. 👀

That deep *thud* it makes 🧊

My initial guess is that the high amount of energy splits water into oxigen and hidrogen gas, which is very explosive. That's the same reason why sodium and other alkaline metals explode in water. Edit: Ok and now I kept watching and Jaimie said the same thing lol

@@MartoLun Hehe, still a good idea as well, even if others had it too ^^

Violent sublimation, definitely!

@@MartoLun i dont think so all the hydrogen would need to form instantly, and even in chem labs we use the "knallgasprobe"(explosive gas check) where we create hydrogen to check for several diff molecules this thermite explosion rather looked like a slag explosion its when a company pours their still hot slag on wet ground the temps for the splitting of water molecules isnt reached(slag max temp is 1400°C - usually they cool for a day before throwing it on the ground) but the water gets evaporated fast enough to cause an explosion you can look up vids of that and check the similarities^^

@@suicidalbanananana it's probably a good bit of both, but there *is* a reason why other metal fires aren't extinguished with with water, but with special foam. Hydrogen explosions' no joke

That's what I thought? I wonder matches they use.

I think their thermite has such a small particle size that a match is enough to light it.

@@FilmsAustin Just regular ones. I used to work in a quality control lab for aluminium powder for autoclaved aerated concrete. One of the tests was igniting a small cup of the powder with a match and timing the reaction. It's really not hard. It's quite similar to iron wool. Finer particles, larger surface.

i think it's more likely that the molten aluminium in the thermite is reacting with the water/superheated steam creating a bunch of hydrogen

Exactly...... the thermite instantly flash boils the ice into superheated steam gasses that expands explosively...

If simple rapid gas expansion was to blame, then presumably it would be even more explosive with dy ice, which takes much less energy to go from solid to gas... But it doesn't. People always forget that aluminum is explosive, and it explodes with just plain water as well. It has nothing to do with rapidly expanding water vapor. The science is not well understood. Only in the last 5 years was the first paper published that explained the detonation of alkali metals with water. You could hypothesize that it's the same type of reaction. Aluminum, when molten, forces it's oxide layer to the surface. Thermite can get hot enough to decompose this oxide layer completely. Pure aluminum (no oxide) and water react like this, Al2+3H2O->Al2O3+3H2. This reaction occurs very rapidly, with the same E∆/t as dynamite. Just google the aftermath of aluminum foundry explosions. It's like the MOAB going off. Why people have a hard time replicating it with molten aluminum and water is because they typically pour the aluminum from a crucible into water. They are very lucky. Aluminum will very quickly develop an oxide layer as it is pouring, which limits the reaction severely. If you poured water into a large crucible, there's a good chance it will go boom. Probably with enough force to kill you and shater your neighbor's windows. Why thermite works eith ice but not water, is because thermite burns hot enough to decompose the oxide layer, but usually not while subjected to evaporative cooling. Of course, water dumped on thermite can cause some small partial explosions, and will shower sparks everywhere, but with ice, the water, and exposed thermite can come in contact without causing rapid cooling of the thermite, and lacks the plastic deformation characteristics that inhibit deformation of the oxide scale. Tldr, aluminum is explosive and reacts with water. The fact that it only works with ice is just a coincidence of physics.

Is that similar to why water makes grease explode? I read about someone who would toss ice cubes into a restaurant deep fryer and it got out of hand.

I mean that’s like saying a machinist who lost a finger is a moron….. accidents do happen

Yeah I'm pretty sure it's caused by the cold air trapped in the ice suddenly rapidly expanding due to it turning into steam so quickly, the fast rapid expansion is probably what triggers the boom but I'm no expert.

@@PotentialLegend It's already expanded though, since water expands when it freezes (as anyone who has left a beer in the freezer knows), so unless it's air bubbles or something?

​@@atlasfeynman1039yes that's what he said

@@justsomecommentchannel8602 I was thinking of ice being the expanded form of water, not gas, so to go from ice to gas expanded my mind.

@@atlasfeynman1039 steam is way more expanded than ice though

The rifles could've also been stored vertically, fallen from vibrations and fired.

If, as the myth says, the rifles were in the back of a car, then it is far more likely a bump in the road is what set them off. The music was likely incidental. SKS rifles, especially poorly maintained ones are known for this after all.

@@Cheynanigans__ Thats what I figured, kinda hoped they would see if dropping or slamming the butt of the rifle into the ground would set it off. I figured that might just be a massive safety hazard, hence why it might have been ignored.

My thoughts are the same music would be far better that sound wave forms!!!

Check out the White Rabbit Project.

They did 2 revives and both failed - First one was like half a year after the original show stopped, some sort of "hunt for the new Mythbusters" that featured a bunch of youtubers competing to become the new Mythbusters (check out "safety third" podcast about it featuring a few of them, apparently that was all kinds of weird & rigged) - Second one was fairly recent, some kind of "mythbusters for kids" with Adam Savage & Tory Belleci Neither of these were really aired internationally, only a few countries got to see them, but it's probably for the best as both honestly did the original a disservice, you're not missing out if you haven't seen these. There was also some show from Kari & Tory (i wanna say for 'Spike' channel?) that had a similar vibe but didn't have any official relation to Mythbusters & only lasted like 2 episodes, its possible they got shut down by Discovery. The fact that they've sold the rights now (this channel actually owns Mythbusters) means there probably won't be a third attempt.

white rabbit already failed. don't get your hopes up

If they couldn’t get it back with white rabbit they’re not going to stand a chance now that Grant is gone as well as Adam and Jamie not coming back

@@LucasCarter2 hey, I can dream, can't I? 🙃

yes i think they should have tested it with water as well

It would not suffocate the thermite since it is an exothermic reduction-oxidizing reaction. Meaning that oxygen does not come from the surrounding air but from the oxidizer in the mixture. Such reactions can't be extinguished by normal means like water or suffocation

another similar situation is why you shouldn't throw water at an oil fire in your kitchen. water vaporizes and splashes the oil around, which catches fire more easily, leading to a nice fireball

But in that case it would work much better with water that ice, which is not the case.

@@stasi0238 .. Not sure what you mean; The problem with trying to get water to "explode" by heating it is that.. WHEN it turns hot enough to turn to steam it DOES turn to steam and.. leaves.. AND water turning in to steam takes a lot of energy, which is why pouring water on fire is such a good way to put out fires, it cools down the fire.. But water CAN "explode". You heard of boilers exploding?.. What you need to do is to keep the water around for long enough time so it gets to build up pressure, so instea of just fractions of a gram turning in to steam a LOT of it turns in to steam at the same time.. That is where the ice would come in; It becomes the solid encasement that keeps the water in place so enough of it will decompress at the same time. It's like a fire-cracker. A small fire-cracker in the palm of your hand won't even burn you.. but close your hand and you will lose your fingers. It's about whether the expanding matter has some place to go or if it has to "force" it's way.

@@rogerlundstrom6926 I'm not stupid lol. I'm talking about experiment in question. Thermite on ice violently explodes, but thermite that goes into water doesn't. If you are talking that pressure builds up in ice better than in water, remember that thermite is the source of heat so the nearest ice particles to thermite are turning to steam then further water and further lays ice, so there is no way to pressurize the steam. My opinion is that either aluminium or iron in the reaction is hot enough that it reacts with water as in X(metal) + H2O = oxide/hydroxide + H2. We can see this reaction working at room temperature with sodium or potassium and we can see similar explosion. The question about water not working makes sense then because hot metal can't react well with water since it creates a steam barrier better itself and liquid metal, and it makes sense that ice can't move like the water to allow liquid metal not to touch it.

@@stasi0238 .. So.. it's Interesting that you START by claiming to not be stupid. and then follow up by proving you didn't get my point at all. but.. I'll TRY to rephrase my statement again... Just to say; I have NEITHER done experiments, NOR done the maths to "know" whether this is true, I am ONLY relying on occhams razor: IF you already can explain things with what you already know, then stop trying to look for strange other explanations. So. .The thing is.. Water expands when it turns in to steam..thousand-fold.. this decompressin is EXTREME and creates a LOT of power. BUT... If you (f.ex.) boil water.. then.. it doesn't explode.. the REASON it doesn't explode is because one single water-molecule turning in to steam.. means.. it turns in to steam and DOES require a bit more space.. However, that ONE molecule has expanded a LOT! but it CAN traverse and expand, and so on.. QUITE a bit.. BUT.. it's expansion ALSO will cool down all the water that surrounds it.. at the time it is endothermic.. it sucks out the energy of the water around it so that water is COOLED.. (as I mentioned about why water IS the way to fight fires).. It SUCKS energy.. it COOLS it's surrounding. But more importantly: WHEN talking about a pot boiling.. the actual.. water that turn into gaseous form.. it.. will create bubbles in the pot.. and.. rise.. and.. cool down everything else.. and.. then.. float to the top.. and.. just go out.. it may have expanded a LOT but it is just a FRACTION of the actual amount of water in the pot.. and.. it cools down the water.. this is why a boiling pot IS 100 degrees centigrade and will never never ever PASS it.. you need to put it in a closed system for you to be able to heat water BEYOND 100 degrees centigrade.. if the water that passes this temperature is able to leave then.. it will leave.. and not affect the actual full system too much.... beyond actually COOLING the water. HOWEVER.. It's a matter of "speed".. and.. Even IF ice could melt.. it's about the speed of light.. Energy traversing can't go faster than the speed of light.. .so if you FLASH!!! heat ice to the point BEYOND melting.. then.. that part of the equation means it takes 1000 times more space than it used to take.. BUT if the actual "Ice" keeps it in.. then.. INSTEAD of water reaching the actual boiling temperature CAN'T easily disperse and just.. go into the atmosphere. then.. the pressure will build. the consequence of pressure building IS.. an uncontrolled decompression.. (Which is VERY similar to an.. Explosion.. MOST people wouldn't know the difference in the first place).. .. So.. SERIOUSLY.. IF you have an ice-block, and water SUDDENLY turns in to steam in the middle of all that ice.. it WILL create an explosion like event. .but.. if it instead was happening in the mid of WATER then it.. would just turn in to it's gaseous form and be FREE to escape the medium within which it was "trapped".* and I am not even trying to say that "I am right".. I am JUST saying that the most OBVIOUS solution to this conundrum doesn't even seem to be what people are pondering at all. they are IGNORING the thing that is in clear sight and trying to invent new solutions.. So.. I may ABSOLUTELY be wrong.. I don't question that.. I only say that.. you CAN solve this without resorting to zebras.. and.. you should look for ways to check whether the things that we ALREADY know of (such as exploding boilers) ISN'T the reason... before trying to claim it is "unknown" behaviour.

I was thinking the rifles could've also been stored vertically, fallen from vibrations and fired. Far more likely with music than pure tones, it was an odd choice not to use music.

​@@Cheynanigans__ Tones can easily be controlled, so they chose that. Given the design issue with the bolt, the rifle needs to be moved forwards and backwards really quickly and violently. Falling over wouldn't really do that.

So it exploded because "something had to give"? What an explanation my man. It´s a steam explosion.

Either that or a Smith & Wesson .500..

It wouldn't fire anyway

@@LollipopUnicorny Probably not, but we'll never know since it wasn't properly tested.

@@hakonsoreide Ok, go for it. Test it yourself and video doc it. Prove your words

Are you implying you think the methodology used in the episode was the correct one?

@@wendella.4074 I think you may have misread my comment. I'm not saying it can be done. I'm saying the methodology isn't a sound one. Very different things. The principle behind the correct methodology has already been demonstrated in the Earhquake Machine episode, so in addition to using common sense and logic, there is nothing left to prove. It seems they couldn't remember what was learnt two seasons earlier when looking at this myth. If I used a different methodology and the result was the same, that would be completely pointless since it would neither prove nor disprove the original myth. principle