homehome Home chatchat Notifications


Mesmerizing video shows how liquid nitrogen skates across gasoline

The simple pleasures in life.

Tibi Puiu
August 11, 2016 @ 7:47 pm

share Share

liquid nitrogen and gasoline

Sometimes, it’s the simple pleasures in life that make it worth living. Watching the ocean’s waves break on cliffs or grass grow, for instance. For me, it’s liquid nitrogen skating on gasoline.

Typically when liquid nitrogen lends its -196°C (-320.44°F) touch to objects, it almost instantly chills and covers them in ice. When it meets a liquid, however, it barely affects it. For instance, this video shows how one daredevil dropped a few tablespoons of Mr. Freeze’s favorite liquor on a bed of gasoline, isopropyl alcohol and water.

Because the liquid nitrogen is far less dense than any of these liquids, it floats above them. Moreover, the low temperature does create a layer of ice between the two matters — but only a very thin one, just enough to act as an insulator. Spurred by a temperature gradient, the liquid nitrogen simply floats and spins around the enclosure, bumping against whatever surface meets its tracks while emitting interesting vapor shapes as it evaporates.

share Share

AI-Based Method Restores Priceless Renaissance Art in Under 4 Hours Rather Than Months

A digital mask restores a 15th-century painting in just hours — not centuries.

Meet the Dragon Prince: The Closest Known Ancestor to T-Rex

This nimble dinosaur may have sparked the evolution of one of the deadliest predators on Earth.

Your Breathing Is Unique and Can Be Used to ID You Like a Fingerprint

Your breath can tell a lot more about you that you thought.

In the UK, robotic surgery will become the default for small surgeries

In a decade, the country expects 90% of all keyhole surgeries to include robots.

Bioengineered tooth "grows" in the gum and fuses with existing nerves to mimic the real thing

Implants have come a long way. But we can do even better.

The Real Singularity: AI Memes Are Now Funnier, On Average, Than Human Ones

People still make the funniest memes but AI is catching up fast.

Scientists Turn Timber Into SuperWood: 50% Stronger Than Steel and 90% More Environmentally Friendly

This isn’t your average timber.

A Massive Particle Blasted Through Earth and Scientists Think It Might Be The First Detection of Dark Matter

A deep-sea telescope may have just caught dark matter in action for the first time.

Science Just Debunked the 'Guns Don’t Kill People' Argument Again. This Time, It's Kids

Guns are the leading cause of death of kids and teens.

It Looks Like a Ruby But This Is Actually the Rarest Kind of Diamond on Earth

One of Earth’s rarest gems finally reveals its secrets at the Smithsonian.