Imagine working at a steel mill.
You somehow landed a job.
It's your first day,
and you are assigned to the forge.
Alright, let's make some metal!
You try to show your expert smithing skills
to your coworkers
but, unfortunately,
you slip and fall into
a pool of molten metal.
Whoops.
The three most common forms of molten metal
are zinc,
lead
and steel.
You might be surprised to learn that
both lead & zinc become liquified
at temperatures much lower
than a typical campfire.
Lead becomes molten at around 328 °C (622 °F),
and zinc at 420 °C (787 °F).
Liquid iron, on the other hand,
occurs at a scorching 1,535 °C (2,795 °F).
If you happen to fall into
any of these molten metals,
it's going to hurt no matter what.
But is there any way to survive this?
Although your chances of staying alive
are very slim,
you might be able to make it out alive
if you got caught in the rain beforehand.
Having a wet body might protect you,
well, briefly.
If a liquid comes in contact with a surface
hotter than the liquid's boiling point,
it will produce a layer of insulating vapor.
This is what causes the skittering effect
of water on a hot pan.
Because molten metal is so much hotter
than the boiling point of water,
the outer layer of moisture on your skin
would instantly vaporize and create a coating.
But this only protects you
for a short amount of time.
So please, don't get any ideas like this guy.
Liquid metal is about seven times denser
than the human body.
So if you fell in, you wouldn't sink.
At the very least, someone would see your body
before you became
forged into an anvil
or rolled into some sheet metal.
If you had a protective suit on,
you could potentially
float and wade your way to safety.
Suits used in power plants
with aluminized outer shells
reflect 95% of radiant heat
and can withstand temperatures
up to 1,650 °C (3,000 °F).
But these suits only work
when exposed to high air temperatures.
If you submerge them in molten metal,
well, they would catch fire instantly,
cooking you like a baked potato.
However, if you happened to upgrade your suit
with hafnium carbide,
which can withstand
temperatures of up to 4,000 °C (7,232 °F),
you might stand a chance.
But even if you managed to climb your way out,
there might be repercussions
to your health afterward,
like lead poisoning.
Side-effects may include nausea,
diarrhea,
high blood pressure,
abdominal pain,
mood disorders,
and death.
Although falling into a pool of molten metal
would be severely painful,
our pain receptors overload
at temperatures above 60 °C (140 °F)
and become numb.
So, I guess that's somewhat comforting.
We won't get into all the gory details here,
but your chances of survival are
slim to none.
You would be burned to a crisp.
Even robots from the future
wouldn't stand a chance.
So, please, don't try this home,
or, well, anywhere.
Accidents like these do happen
but can be avoided
with proper safety precautions.
But what about taking a dip
in other liquid metals
at lower temperatures?
Could we wade into a pool
of liquid mercury unscathed?
Don't worry, pool nerds.
We got you covered.
That's a story for another What If.