This is what happens when you throw a water bottle into molten steel

Peter Martinez
Updated

Here's another item to add to the list of things you shouldn't try at home: tossing your plastic water bottle into molten hot steel. It will result in an explosion of sparks that'll rain down on your head, according to a YouTube video by Gregory Kroll.

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The science behind it? When water that's at room temperature encounters an extremely hot surface, it almost instantly turns into steam, which looks like an explosion to us, Nerdistreported. Pieces of metal get caught in the rapidly expanding air, causing the dangerous showers of fire.

A smaller, similar reaction occurs when you try to put out a kitchen grease fire with water. The water hits the hot grease and quickly expands into a huge flame -- i.e., not what you were going for.

This Is What Happens When You Throw a Water Bottle Into Molten Steel
This Is What Happens When You Throw a Water Bottle Into Molten Steel

Source: Gregory Kroll/YouTube

Apparently, the reverse science also applies. Tossing in molten hot salt (up to 550 degrees Celsius) into a body of water will also cause an explosion, Nerdistreported.

Don't worry -- no one was harmed in the making of the molten-steel water bottle video, according to Kroll, who said the opening where the water bottle was thrown in was about 10 to 20 feet below the camera.

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