Re: rapid boiling at the very end with liquid nitrogen

[Brian Whatcott <betwys1@SBCGLOBAL.NET>]

At 02:34 PM 6/13/2003 -0400, John Denker, you  pointed to a superlative
reference on the topic at hand:

> On 06/13/2003 02:08 PM, Michael J. Moloney wrote:
> > My students and I have seen metal samples cooled to liquid nitrogen
> > temperature, and for all metals we tried (copper, aluminum, iron, and
> > lead) we saw a rapid boiling at the end, when we think the metal had
> > reached the same temperature as the liquid.
>
> Leidenfrost effect.
>
> http://www.wiley.com/college/phy/halliday320005/pdf/leidenfrost_essay.pdf


This was a pointer to an article by the estimable Jearl Walker.

Jearl says elsewhere:

"I no longer give talks so that I can concentrate on a textbook,
The Fundamentals of Physics by Halliday, Resnick, and Walker (me).
But you can see most of the stunts of the Flying Circus talk in
my videotape series, The Kinetic Karnival. Outside Ohio, it is
available from GPN, 1800 North 33rd Street, Box 80669,
Lincoln Nebraska 68501-0669, phone 402-472-2007 or toll free
800-228-4630, fax 402-472-1785.
Inside Ohio, it is available from WVIZ, 4300 Brookpark Rd,
 Cleveland OH 44134, phone 216-398-2800.
If you want to take a physics course from me, come to
Cleveland State University. I don't always do the stunts,
but I'm always here."

When it comes to stunts, he illustrates Herr Leidenfrost's
observations on the  variation of boiling rates with delta t,
in a particularly vivacious way; or rather did, until his
dentist's bills became excessive:
Swallowing liquid nitrogen, then extruding a chilling plume
of a meter length or so....

You will recall that Leigh Hunt did something of the
same kind too.

Brian Whatcott    Altus OK