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Ancient Exploding Cannonballs

Posted by michael on from the exothermic dept.

Planetes writes "There is a story on MSNBC about some surprise archaeology. Apparently, cannonballs from shipwrecks are "exploding" (more like heating up and cracking open) when they are exposed to air. At least one reacted so violently it reached several hundred degrees. Talk about a booby trap. I'd never have seen this one coming." Heat from oxidation (that's "rusting", if you haven't taken chemistry) has started many fires in cargo ships carrying iron.

1 of 32 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Rust at work by R2.0 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Here ya go smartass: http://www.metrokc.gov/procure/green/rubber.htm

    --
    "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson