We Dropped a Car Into Lava

We dropped a car into lava, and it didn't sink. In water, a car floats for about a minute. Then it's gone. In mercury, it sinks to its hubcaps and stops. Even steel floats on mercury. Lava is three times heavier than water, and as thick as peanut butter. So the car sits right on top. Then the heat hits. The tires burst into flames, and the wheels melt into puddles. But the steel frame just glows. Lava isn't hot enough to melt it. This 3D animation compares the same car in three liquids. A car floats in water for roughly 30 seconds to 2 minutes before it floods and sinks. Mercury is so dense (13.5 times water) that a car would float on its tires, and steel floats in it too. Basalt lava is about three times as dense as water and very thick, so a car rests on its crust instead of sinking in. At 1,100-1,200 °C the tires burn and aluminum wheels (melting near 660 °C) run into puddles, but steel melts only above about 1,400 °C, so the body glows instead. The drops are simulations, the water scene is sped up, and nobody dropped a real car for this film. #Shorts #Lava #Science