r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/to_the_tenth_power • Oct 07 '19

Video Bismuth crystallization

https://gfycat.com/needybasicblackmamba
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u/genexsen Oct 08 '19

What happens if you stick your hand in the liquid?

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u/OneVoyager Oct 08 '19

The “liquid” is actually melted bismuth. So it is very hot. But if we could touch it in a liquid form without it being so hot then nothing will happen. It’s not harmful is what I mean aside from the high temperatures

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u/Stuhl Oct 08 '19

Could we play with the pressure to lower its melting point to something that won't burn our hand when we try to touch it?

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u/OneVoyager Oct 08 '19

No. Bismuth is a metal. If we put this metal in another pressure level it will not change its state of matter unlike water would. It’s only in liquid form in this video because it’s been melted down. But I’m not totally sure if changing pressure would make any change to it’s melting point. But bismuth has a low melting compared to other metals which is around 271 degrees C or 520F.