Living on the other side of that fence has to be nerve-racking.

Thank God you were wearing safety shorts.

Kevin: Mixing these ingredients together is very dangerous. Also Kevin: Today we are going to mix these ingredients together because its very dangerous

It's amazing watching this old Backyard Scientist video because..it has some actual science in it! Lol

Earlier " I was expecting a big explosion" *gets an explosion* " i didn't expect that "

Can you do a video of how to get all the glass out of the yard?

To folks thinking this was a steam explosion: Notice how the other salts simply formed a steam bubble around itself through the Leidenfrost effect. Furthermore, putting a red hot nickel ball into water leads to the same outcome (steam blanket around the glowing red hot metal ball), with no explosion. The video also clearly shows a detonation instead of a steam explosion, where superheated water vaporizes (throughout the liquid) when the pressure drops (through failure of its containment vessel) To achieve these kind of detonations as observed in the video, you need the heated liquid stream to rapidly split itself apart into tiny fragments that can heat the surrounding water at a rate fast enough (the expansion of the liquid from this heating needs to be faster than the speed of shock wave propagation in the medium). This means that the liquid droplet needs to somehow obtain some amount of energy that can overcome its own surface tension and disperse itself into tiny droplets which further increases the interface area (a self-propagating, exponential process). The main way this is done is through charge. Supposedly, the Cl- ions can react with the supercritical H2O at the superheated water-salt interface to form HCl and Na+, OH-. The superior mobility of protons in water rapidly neutralizes the OH- at this interface, leading to the fast accumulation of Na+ in the molten salt itself. This charge buildup can eventually overcome the surface tension of the salt, leading to the droplet ripping itself apart. The act of the droplet ripping itself apart will further increase the salt-water interface. Eventually the salt-water mixture turns into steam and we see the detonation in this video. I might be wrong with some of the details but I think some form of charge accumulation in the salt overcoming surface tension should be the main cause.

Gotta say i find it impressive how much an aquarium can take before blowing

my dad bought some salt from my uncle but he heated it up with a weird spoon thing

This is a physical process called Molten Fuel Coolant Interaction (MFCI or FCI). It is the same process that occurs with magma and water during explosive phreatomagmatic eruptions. Your example is correct, a vapour film is formed around the fuel and this expands so fast like a wave and generates the explosion. Thanks for the video! I will use it for my volcanology lectures!

One of my favorites....the camera speed, the colors and hi-def; plus the amazing chem. reactions, how could you not like this. An updated version of this content would be appreciated.

There is something very deadly, yet exciting and awesome about watching the results of your experiments.

I dress like a tourist too when messing with 1500 degree explosion experiments

Note to self: *Don’t walk across his yard barefoot*

4:21 I dub this "the molten saltwater popcorn effect"

The backyard scientist just learned the science of picking glass out of grass.

“Florida man creates sodium bomb in backyard”

All I can say is Thank God you wore your shorts and Hawaiian shirt protective gear with you.

Great video. I would say that you are fun to hang around with always doing something interesting and fun.

I feel like u did these videos whenever they had the $1 per gallon sales at pet outlets for their tanks 😂

“Dont try this at home” says the guy with unlimited fish tanks

safety protocols, what are those!?

I just found you through Mark and thanks for that 😊 now I have loads of content to watch 👍🏻

When the tank blew, woah!!! I was kinda expecting that to happen and when it did was quite spectacular 😂😂

Am i the only one worried that there is now small pieces of sharp glass hidden in the grass all over his yard?

"Honey, what was that sound?" "Oh nothing, just Kevin making another video." "Alright, good."

This is genius over and out !

Amazing videos, nothing like slow-mo and explosions

My science teacher showed us this on zoom.

I bet you had fun picking up all that glass in the yard.

Your lack of PPE and use of glass in explosion experiments terrify me. Otherwise, really informative! You might be dealing with a Coulomb Explosion.

The amout of effort he puts in the videos is alot, like he broke the aquarium just for content. Respekt

,,I said im going to pour it in as fast as i can" *sets a countdown*

Do your neighbors call the police on you?

Normal people at 3:24 : Explosion! Me: Popcorn!

When I read "molten salt," I was both amazed and nervous. I thought you had somehow created NaK; which is the coolant in molten salt reactors. My grandfather used to tell stories from working at ORNL about it eating through 12 feet of concrete and exploding upon contact with water.

Can you imagine when he moves to a new house and someone else moves in and finds glass shards, metal fragments, scorch marks, and patches of color all over their backyard

0:05 The science teacher explaining how mixing salt with water will kill everyone in a 50 kilometer radius:

Noooo really? Basic science is the same as when they did this stuff 20 years ago?!!! Mind blowing! It's almost like people think these are new concepts! Fantastic!

just found this in 2022 here in Suffolk, England loved the rocket and salt vid combine the two, perhaps banging ideas mate. respect from a royal navy veteran in England poor queen 👑 that was funny and loved the exploding fish tanks keep safe

03:10 *Great slowmo action!* 🤯

Tip: always wear armour in his backyard

It's called a 'Steam Explosion'. It's caused by violent boiling or flashing of water or ice turning into steam, occurring when water or ice is either superheated, rapidly heated, or heated by the interaction of molten materials (doesn't matter if it's salt, metal, sugar or something else). Due to the rapid evaporation of the water, it reacts violently and causes an explosion of steam due to the great increase in pressure. This is very common around volcanoes as hot lava meets sea water or ice.

Entertaining my inner Geek!!! Stay safe Aloha's from the Big island 🏝

Store worker: "Why does this guy keep coming back to buy fish tanks all day?" Store worker 2: "I don't know sounds suspicious. Go call the cops."

You're right when assuming a physical reaction. Molten Sodium-Chloride got's the right mixture of heat capacity, less surface tension and not too much heat conductivity to instantly form a cover of steam around it when divided by the first steam explosion. Instead there where formed a lot of small salt drops who where divided again instead of instantly form the protecting steam bubble around.

Love the perfect PPE he was wearing!

From chat gpt: Molten salt can cause explosions when it comes into contact with water due to a phenomenon known as "thermal shock" or "steam explosion." When a substance, like molten salt, is at a very high temperature and comes into sudden contact with a much cooler substance, like water, the extreme temperature difference can lead to rapid and violent vaporization of the water. Here's what happens in more detail: 1. **Rapid Cooling:** Molten salt is at a very high temperature. When it comes into contact with water, which is at a much lower temperature, the heat energy from the molten salt is transferred to the water very quickly. 2. **Rapid Vaporization:** The intense heat causes the water to vaporize almost instantly, turning into steam. This rapid vaporization creates a sudden increase in pressure. 3. **Pressure Buildup:** The steam generates pressure within the water, and because it's trapped by the molten salt's surface layer, the pressure builds up very quickly. 4. **Explosive Release:** The pressure buildup can become so rapid and intense that it can rupture the molten salt's surface layer, causing an explosive release of steam, hot salt particles, and potentially even molten salt droplets. This explosive release is what creates the "explosion." This phenomenon is similar to what happens when you throw water onto a hot stove or into hot cooking oil, though the specifics of the reaction can vary depending on the particular substances involved. It's important to note that the presence of dissolved salts in water can also affect the vaporization process, contributing to the explosive nature of the reaction between molten salt and water.

"i'mma pour it as fast as i can" *counts down from 3-1*

My first thought: "I bet this guy is a Florida Man. I can imagine the headlines he'll create one day." Then I went to his twitter account and sure enough: Florida. And what's his latest tweet about? Buying a rocket launcher. You cannot be more Florida Man than this. This is Peak Florida Man.

What I find amazing is that you are doing this with a Hawaiian shirt, shorts and trainers. You can still get good photographic shots without the possibility of life changing injuries.

Congratulations, you’ve figured out the science behind depth charges.

*Knows glass will burst* *Wears shorts and tee for next experiments*

This video should be titled: "let's create a glass shrapnel bomb and stand in front of it!"

hi backyard scientist you are my favorite youtuber i love watching your videos i love

kinda cool how my teachers making my class watch backyard scientist. I've been a fan for years and this is the first time any teacher shows us his videos

When it just splattered a little: “I was expecting an explosion” When it exploded: “I was expecting a little bit of splattering”

As a chemist I can shed some light on the reaction. First, you are correct that this reaction isn't chemical in nature. The key differences between the substances are their solubility in water, and also their thermal conductivity. The NA-CL (Sodium Chloride) is highly soluble in water, dissolving NA-CL in water is also quite endothermic and comes with a higher osmotic pressure. This means that the NA-CL distributes through the water faster than the other substances. Once the NA-CL is distributed in the water it causes the water to boil and expand. If you watch the video again you can see the other substances in a clump with the boiling water vapor in a shell around them. They boil the water before they spread through the water. Thermal conductivity is loosely defined as the rate at which a substance can heat its surroundings. If you were to increase the thermal conductivity of the NA-CL it would also boil the water before it could spread.

I worked in a foundry and the same would result when moisture is introduced in the furnace of molten metal. There is an instant vaporization of the moisture that causes a rapid expansion.

after watching this video, i wondered if it was possible to use this physical reaction into a reactor and... the answer was YES ! :D

Almost any backyard scientist video must include : 1. Small protection / no protection (mostly) 2. Being near the exeperiment 3. Something very dangerous 4. Some cameras 5. Slo-mo 6. Some friends (optional) 7. In the backyard / somewhere far / somewhere in his house.

“SIR! A Florida man is creating an atom bomb in his backyard!”

That voice crack in mix is something I completely missed and I'm rewatching this

+TheBackyardScientist Clearly the explosion is down to the analogue imbalance transition within the hyperbolic prokaryotic valance. This is because the expanse of the proton's derek-rods cannot breach the occluded pivot telomerase.

Just curious how the hell you clean up all the glass so your dog doesn't step in/ eat it? Vacuum cleaner?

2:36 was so amazing, i even took a photot for that shot

amazing camera work

Am I the only one that is wondering how many fish tanks he has *edit on Grammar*

As a serious suggestion, have you tried heating sand/gravel to the same temperature and pouring it in. If your theory of surface area is correct then you can pick your grain size and demonstrate that finer grains make more violent steam explosions.

Good to see the ultra protective Hawaiian shirt & Knickerbockers in use. I was concerned there for a moment ...

This is why I like people. We're always trying to figure out new was to blow things up.

This is why you should never let a LoL gamer fall into water

now you cant walk barefoot in you backyard ever again. lol

Takes me back to my apprenticeship days in the heat treatment shop. The molten sodium cyanide tanks used to harden gears scared the pants off me. We were warned anything going in had to be absolutey dry or BOOM!!!! And sodium cyanide to boot.

i found this video to be very educational i learned a lot :)😁

1:10 “Stainless steel shotglass crucible” _Completely rusted and stained_

Most shops that sell tools sell welder jackets and aprons. Might be a good investment for these sorts of experiments to avoid getting burned and worse. Also, I hope your dog is safe.

This is badass and I subbed !

This experiment would be worth revisiting with an even faster camera. Maybe see if the Slow Mo Guys or Smarter Every Day would do a collab

-Expects an explosion. -Uses a glass tank. -Is wearing nothing. That's how supervillains are made.

Mentos: I can blow up a little in content with Diet Coke Moulten salt: hold my beer

I love how this man has gone from “ I wonder what happens if I hear that up” to “I wonder what happens when I pour this molten thing on this other thing” to making wmd’s.

Holy cow...7 years ago? Nice footage.

This guy's neighbors must hate him.

I imagine the person next door loves you dearly...

The ammount of glass in this guys backyard grass must be insane after all these videos.

It’s fun coming back to this video

It's not a mystery! 1) NaCl is highly crystalline and has FCC lattice structure, whereas molten salt doesn't. 2) when poured into water, the molten NaCl quickly retains it's structure. This process releases heat suddenly. Sound is also an energy. 3) In that process the space gets compressed and hence vacuum is created. 4) The adjacent water molecules rushes to fill the gap (vacuum). However, the water molecules that comes in contact gets heated up and expand. 5) This collision between the molecules rushing to the centre and steam molecules rushing away from the centre cause the disturbance. Note: we don't notice this with other salts, as most of the salts are hydrated and are not highly crystalline like NaCl.

That is quite the daring protective gear. I'd wear an EOD suit or a class A HazMat suit...or jeans.

I was hoping you attempt the same with the potassium analogue (potassium chloride). Wondering how that would have reacted with water

I love the videos of the explosion!!

In 1972 I worked at Elmira Heat Treat on upstate NY. They did various metals heat treatments to harden steel -My job as to dip 5 lawnmower blades in to a salt pot furnace for +20 seconds (incredibly hot-red/white melted salt) - move them to a special treated fire repressed oil bath to harden/cool them and then, after a set time to water bath for further cooling and then on to the drip-dry rack. One day I witnessed from +20 yards a co-worker grab from the wrong rack - the drip-dry rack of wet blades and when he dropped them in the pot pretty much all the melted salt instantly exploded out of the pot ...everywhere...he was lucky that he had protective gear on but there were serious burns on all exposed skin, upper arms and neck...I suspect he still has scars from it today

1-When you drop molten sodium chloride into water unlike sodium (which is lighter than water) it sinks in (it is heavier than water). 2- The super hot ball of molten salt flash vaporizes the water. A thin vapor film separates the water and hot surface and temporarily the situation is stable. 3- The molten salt is not like liquid tin and does not have great surface tension so it makes a ball full of cracks and water gets inside some of the cracks. 4- The liquid water inside the crack flashes into the vapor and its volume suddenly expands by 1800 times. The local area around the crack inflates violently. 5- Since the rapid expansion of the outer molten salt surrounding the inflated crack is inside water and expanding faster than speed of sound in the water, it makes a supersonic shock wave. The shock wave in the water is the explosion or Big Bang. Thanks for a great question. I really had fun watching the video and other pictures of this experiment again and again. And you high school kids out there, DO NOT TRY THIS WITHOUT SUPERVISION. It looks really dangerous

Very nicely put together video and very entertaining as well. Thanks for posting this.

I love the safety Malibu shirt!

"When it's molten it's very waterlike" This man is a genius

He find explosions pretty peaceful.....

2 possible reasons. 1. the heat is flashing the water to steam so fast it explodes. 2. the main substance sodium is somehow going into metal form and exploding. try dunking a solid chunk of sodium metal of the 50 grams you melted the salt and see if the same happens.

Wow. This was awesome

I think it's a combination of things: -- molten salt immediately crystallizes on the outside but stays hot on the inside, forming a sort of Prince Rupert's Drop -- once the salt is cool enough for the Leidenfrost effect to stop and the water to make contact, the water begins to dissolve the still very hot salt -- the dissolving salt forms a weak point in the highly stressed crystal lattice, causing it to explosively shatter -- the shattered salt, now out of the way, allows the water to make contact with the still molten inner salt, causing flash steam -- the shattering and flash steam form an impressive explosion from the combined efforts This would also explain the mini-explosions you get, where scattered molten salt bits go through the same process.