Water Explosion Experiments (OTA)

[st_hotflashes]

Out on a patch a grass, far enough away from the Inn to be safe, but close enough so she wouldn't get any surprises - hopefully - from wildlife that might like her for a snack, Liz had set up an experiment. There were several large containers, some glass, other plastic, all with water inside of them and spaced out from one another. She had a big bag of salt and a small portable stove that she had, with the help of Alec and his strength, enclosed to create more of an oven. She wore gloves, had an apron on, and she had safety goggles on too. She sat near the oven waiting for the salt to melt - the temperature it needed to get to was high.

After some time, she took a long pair of tongs and pulled out a red hot cup. Carefully she walked over to the first basin of water and poured the liquid salt into it. The water exploded and she jumped back a little, then she laughed.

Comments

Rocket and Liz

[st_ripetail]

“Blowin’ shit up for no reason? I can get behind that.” Rocket had been testing stuff himself: an update to his flying rig. Never knew when another flying non lizard might show up or whatever. “You wanna put some shrapnel in. That’s what makes little bombs like that hardcore.”

Re: Rocket and Liz

[st_hotflashes]

"Oh, um.." She pulled up her goggles and offered Rocket a smile. "I don't know.. hurting people isn't really the point of it.. and making some sort of delayed release mechanism would probably cause the salt to cool down too much for the water to even explode like that to begin with... I'm not sure I'd feel safe standing so close with things that might come flying at me."

Re: Rocket and Liz

[st_ripetail]

“Use frozen peas or somethin’ then? That shit barely stings.” Rocket flattened his ears briefly, then pricked them forward again. “Okay, so if you’re not just exploding shit for kicks, what are ya doin’?”

Re: Rocket and Liz

[st_hotflashes]

Liz realized what she was about to say was going to sound really lame, probably. "I'm doing a comparison on different salt temperatures and how they react to the water." She flushed a little.

Re: Rocket and Liz

[st_ripetail]

Rocket’s ears swiveled and his tail bunched a bit, sure signs of perplexity. “Why?”

Re: Rocket and Liz

[st_hotflashes]

"Um... because... it's fun?" Her cheeks reddened more.

Re: Rocket and Liz

[st_ripetail]

“Uh huh. Try one with frozen peas sometime, then. Bunch’em up around the outside if you don’t wanna adulterate the water or whatever.” If it was for fun, making it explodier would make it more fun.

Re: Rocket and Liz

[st_hotflashes]

She smiled at Rocket, seemingly not disturbed by his one-track mind. It sort of reminded her of Michael sometimes. It was kind of nice. "Haven't you ever done something just to see what it happens." She paused, then amended the question. "Other than bombs, I mean."

Re: Rocket and Liz

[st_ripetail]

"There was that time I shot up a lab to see if everybody'd die." It wasn't a joke. "An' one time I tricked Quill into buying some loser's prosthetic leg. But other than that, mostly just bombs."

Re: Rocket and Liz

[st_hotflashes]

To Liz's credit, she took that all in stride, even if trying to kill a whole lab of people was a little disturbing.

"What about baking... Have you ever tried to bake? It's sort of like experimenting" which was probably why Liz enjoyed it.

[st_artandstoke]

There was the sound of breaking glass, and Jag trotted over, slowing down when he spotted Liz laughing, and kitted up to be safe. He joined her. "Chemistry experiment?"

[st_hotflashes]

Liz turned to see who it was and flushed just a little - she always felt like she was walking on eggshells around Jag since her mistKe months ago.

"Oh... Um, yeah. I'm used to doing this sort of thing for school a lot back home, you know, and... I guess it sounds sort of lame, but I miss it." Plus it was fun, but admitting that might very nerd-overboard.

[st_artandstoke]

"How'd you do that, then?" Jag asked, pushing his hair out of his face. It wasn't as if he'd attended school after he'd hit the streets. Drina had made sure to give him some homeschooling, but he had no idea what Liz had just done, and he was curious.

[st_hotflashes]

"Would you like to see?" She offered a smile as she gestured to the little oven and the bag of salt. Then she walked over to the area. "Basically... heating up salt until it melts means the salt is really, really hot. The salt is so hot that the water instantly boils to steam.... As the water contacts the salt it dissolves rapidly, transferring its heat to the water much faster than would happen if the salt did not dissolve. So it sort of makes an explosion, even though technically it's not an explosion at all."

[st_artandstoke]

"An explosion that's not an explosion?" Jag echoed with a confused frown, unsure what that meant.

[st_hotflashes]

Liz tried to think of how to explain it. "Okay, so, when people think of an explosion, they think of a bomb, right? Usually a chemical reaction that's fiery in some way. Well, with the sodium, the water is coming into contact with something extremely hot so the water will vaporize into water vapour. It does it so fast that it creates pressure in the container that's holding it which is why the container explodes... but if it was in, say, a lake or a pool, it might just spout a little water off the top, but you wouldn't have the big crash the tank I just used made." She smiled. "But, I guess you could technically make it into a bomb... when the sodium is as hot as it can get, it can actually make the atoms unstable enough that when it comes into contact with the oxygen in the water, it can create hydrogen gas... so, I mean, it could." And maybe she would keep that part to herself and not tell Rocket - hydrogen gas was very flammable.

She looked to jag and scrunched her nose. "Sorry... I kind of get excited about this sort of thing... but I know not everyone does." And she was hardcore nerding right now.

[st_artandstoke]

"All I got from that's that it's an explosion without fire," Jag answered, slightly sheepish. That had been a lot to try and follow.

[st_hotflashes]

"Sorry." She looked sheepish too. "I'm told I can get carried away when I talk about science. My ex boyfriend used to complain about it a lot." Liz offered a smile though. "Did you want to try it out? It's fun." Even if you didn't understand the science of it.

[st_artandstoke]

"Your ex sounds like a tit," Jag replied with a moue. "But sure. Show me your science." It sounded entertaining, despite the lack of fire.

[st_runningshoes]

The sound of glass shattering has John coming running; maybe the Time Lord in him couldn't help to make sure no one was injured.

When it's clear the other is alright and laughing; is staring at the mess and is apparently trying to put together on what experiment she's trying to do here.

"Did you blow that up purposely?"

Also, what are things on her eyes?

[st_hotflashes]

When she heard someone else speak, she turned and felt a little embarrassed. "Oh, um.. yeah. It's an experiment?" She pulled her goggles up to her forehead and offered a smile to John.

[st_runningshoes]

John gives a smile back and is looking at the wreckage to see if he can deduct what sort of experiment.

"What exactly where you experimenting for?"

[st_hotflashes]

"Well... mostly to see what happens when I introduce melted salt at various temperatures." She offered a smile. "And because it's kind of neat."

[st_runningshoes]

John can't disagree with experimenting; after all that's how questions about the world and beyond are answered and gives a smile with sparkling brown and inquisitive eyes.

"Don't suppose you'd like an assistant." There's something of a tongue click at the end.

[st_hotflashes]

"Sure." Her smile warmed. "you want to do the next one? I was going to melt the salt for an extra thirty seconds this time."