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Acid vs Lava- Testing Liquids That Melt Everything — Key Takeaways

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Acid vs Lava- Testing Liquids That Melt Everything

Mark Rober21mNov 18, 2023

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Acid outperforms lava in destructive versatility — it bored through all 12 ice layers, dissolved a turkey leg efficiently, and can attack metal via corrosion, though plastic is immune to both.

Key takeaways

Lava beat acid in the car finale: 4 gallons stopped the engine in 4 seconds

Lava beat acid in the car finale: 4 gallons stopped the engine in 4 seconds

  • Nigel's aqua regia (heated HCl + nitric acid) corroded holes but the Honda engine kept running throughout.
  • Kevin's lava poured on the car stopped it almost instantly; Kevin won the overall competition.

Acid cannot dissolve plastic toys because polymer chains are chemically too stable

Acid cannot dissolve plastic toys because polymer chains are chemically too stable

  • Highly stable polymer structures resist acid breakdown — the same reason plastic takes so long to degrade in landfills.
  • This is also why virtually all acids are stored in plastic containers.

Viral 'acid dissolving metal spoon' videos are faked with gallium and Mountain Dew

Viral 'acid dissolving metal spoon' videos are faked with gallium and Mountain Dew

  • The presenter is safe dipping fingers in the 'acid' because it's diluted Mountain Dew, not real acid.
  • The spoon melts because it's cast from gallium, which liquefies in lukewarm liquid — not from any chemical reaction.

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In this video

  1. 1mSetup: Lava vs. Acid vs. Wild Card
  2. 2mRound 1: Turkey Leg
  3. 4mRound 2: iPad
  4. 6mRound 3: Slabs of Ice
  5. 8mRound 4: Toy City
  6. 11mRound 5: Baseball Bat
  7. 13mRound 6: Diamond
  8. 14mFinal Round: Destroying a Car
  9. 19mSponsor: CrunchLabs Roblox Game

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