Recent comments in /f/askscience

akeean t1_j937lot wrote

Reply to comment by Nyrin in Was reading something related to Rock Salt mining. In places like the Himalayas where rock salt mining is done in cold temperatures, a lot of miners report burns. Why is it so that salt burns in a colder surroundings? Would it be the same reason why the salt ice challenge was so dangerous? by vvdmoneymuttornot

You can use this effect to chill some cans of soda or beer very quickly. Put just enough cold tap water to submerge your cans+ice cube+salt in a bowl and slowly stir with a long spoon until the cubes *melt.Wait a minute & give the can a short wash under cold tapwater (to wash off the saltwater)

Edit: Non-native English speaker here. I used molten there since it is interchangable in German 'geschmolzen' as incorrect past tense of 'melt' for describing the phase change of a substance from solid to liquid. The German term works with glaciers, ice cubes, rock and steel. I see it makes no sense in English like this. Thanks for correcting me. Must be painful to browse reddit, lol.

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lemlurker t1_j934hqv wrote

Reply to Was reading something related to Rock Salt mining. In places like the Himalayas where rock salt mining is done in cold temperatures, a lot of miners report burns. Why is it so that salt burns in a colder surroundings? Would it be the same reason why the salt ice challenge was so dangerous? by vvdmoneymuttornot

ice doesnt traditionally remove temperature from your body well as its a solid and needs a phase change to do so so the temperature of the surface is usually around 0c where it contacts the skin.

salt lowers the freexzing temperature so that the ice melts at a lower temp and so when it touches skin it melts at -5 or -10 or colder, now that surface is so far below freezing it can quickly freeze cells in your skin causing ruptures just like burning as your cells arent filled with salt to stop them freezing

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