Death by Lava is MUCH worse than depicted in hollywood

[Spaceception]

So.... You're gonna have a pleasant time burning alive!

 

[sevenperforce]

Right when he got to the Leidenfrost effect I thought "Oh god no"

[Spaceception]

5 minutes ago, sevenperforce said:

Right when he got to the Leidenfrost effect I thought "Oh god no"

This is you;

Have fun!

Edited April 28, 2016 by Spaceception

[Camacha]

I think he missed a major one: hot lava or metal will turn your water into steam quickly. Throwing a bottle of water into either will cause a violent explosion as your water turns to steam and expands to 1700 times its volume. You will likely live to reach the surface, but will be quickly gone afterwards. I doubt you will already be dead before, as he claims, exactly because of the Leidenfrost effect and only having a really short timespan to vaporize lots of liquid water.

 

Edited April 28, 2016 by Camacha

[kerbiloid]

You can watch at Leidenfrost effect any time spitting on the clothes iron to check if it's already enough hot.

[wumpus]

Don't even think about how long Frodo and Sam would last on a little "island" in a sea of lava.  They would basically be in an oven of roughly lava temperature.  Get away from that volcano rim (no idea how close you have to be to get the effect, but don't try on your own without a geologist tour guide).

[sevenperforce]

44 minutes ago, Camacha said:

I think he missed a major one: hot lava or metal will turn your water into steam quickly. Throwing a bottle of water into either will cause a violent explosion as your water turns to steam and expands to 1700 times its volume. You will likely live to reach the surface, but will be quickly gone afterwards. I doubt you will already be dead before, as he claims, exactly because of the Leidenfrost effect and only having a really short timespan to vaporize lots of liquid water.

The superheated column of air rising off of the molten solid stuff (rock or metal) will sear your nerves away inside and out before you hit the surface.

[Camacha]

37 minutes ago, sevenperforce said:

The superheated column of air rising off of the molten solid stuff (rock or metal) will sear your nerves away inside and out before you hit the surface.

Again, I do not see that happening. You contact is very brief and the thermal mass of your body is huge. Remember that air is a great insulator, so even if the contact layer is really hot, you will quickly absorb that heat and form a 'protective' layer of cooler air around yourself. When you are surrounded by fluid metal or rock, however, much more heat is both present and can be easily transported towards you.

I see no reason to suggest 'searing of nerves' would occur.

[J.Random]

He did miss an important question: would your skull explode or would its insides just steam spectacularly out of cracks between skull bones?

[cubinator]

2 hours ago, J.Random said:

He did miss an important question: would your skull explode or would its insides just steam spectacularly out of cracks between skull bones?

It'd probably be much, much worse than depressurization, based on what I've read here about water.

[kerbiloid]

5 hours ago, J.Random said:

He did miss an important question: would your skull explode or would its insides just steam spectacularly out of cracks between skull bones?

A compromise easily solves this problem: would explode along the bones joints.

[softweir]

23 hours ago, J.Random said:

He did miss an important question: would your skull explode or would its insides just steam spectacularly out of cracks between skull bones?

Volcanologists and archaeologists know the answer: Some victims in Herculaneum of the famous eruption of Vesuvius were hit by a pyroclastic flow - a mix of gas and rock at temperatures approaching 1,000C moving at up to 700km/h. Their skulls exploded.