🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Jul29.144611.23703@access.usask.ca> goldie@herald.usask.ca (Hugh Goldie) writes:

>If your swimming pool was filled with mercury, could you walk on it?  (What 
>would happen if you tried it?)

You would fall over.  Your center of balance would be above your
center of boyancy and there would be no friction to help you keep your
feet under you.

Paul.


-- 
Paul Johnson (paj@gec-mrc.co.uk).	    | Tel: +44 245 73331 ext 3245
--------------------------------------------+----------------------------------
These ideas and others like them can be had | GEC-Marconi Research is not
for $0.02 each from any reputable idealist. | responsible for my opinions

In article <1992Jul29.144611.23703@access.usask.ca>, goldie@herald.usask.ca (Hugh Goldie) writes:
|> I hope this is a new question --I haven't been on the net long.  I heard this
|> on a local radio station, but have not heard a good answer yet:
|> 
|> If your swimming pool was filled with mercury, could you walk on it?  (What 
|> would happen if you tried it?)

I guess that walking upright would be impossible because you can't maintain
your balance.
Apart from that, mercury is a normal but heavy fluid so you might sink
up to your ankles or a bit further.
It would be very difficult to drown, but before starting to experiment I
advise you to put on a hermetically closed diving suit.

Some years ago I saw a photo in National Geographic showing a
pool of mercury with two people floating on it.  The article
was about some kind of mining operation (Silver?) in which
mercury is either a byproduct or used in separation ...

Anyway, they were floating pretty high but walking on it
did not appear to be an option.
-- 
Steve Nuchia      South Coast Computing Services, Inc.      (713) 661-3301

In article <1992Jul30.142203.3437@nuchat.sccsi.com>, steve@nuchat.sccsi.com
(Steve Nuchia) writes:
|> Some years ago I saw a photo in National Geographic showing a
|> pool of mercury with two people floating on it.  The article
|> was about some kind of mining operation (Silver?) in which
                                            ^^^^^^^
It was actually about the mercury mines in Spain (Almaden?). The participant(s)
were wearing no special protection, were just sitting in a huge tub of Hg, 
sinking in at the butt maybe 3-4 inches.... 

Wonder if they're still around?

-- 
bielak@Arco.COM             ARCO Exploration and Production Technology
james.bielak@Edm.Arco.COM   2300 W. Plano Parkway PRC-D3239
(214) 754-6184              Plano, TX 75075

> I guess that walking upright would be impossible because you can't maintain
> your balance.
> Apart from that, mercury is a normal but heavy fluid so you might sink
> up to your ankles or a bit further.
> It would be very difficult to drown, but before starting to experiment I
> advise you to put on a hermetically closed diving suit.

Yes, mercury is *very* heavy.

So, here's a second, related question: How deep could you fill a normal /
common in-ground swimming pool before the bottom cracked from the pressure /
weight?

-- 
lrwx------   1 aldavi01 emacsstu       9 Jun  6 12:43 .signature -> /dev/null

goldie@herald.usask.ca (Hugh Goldie) writes:
: I hope this is a new question --I haven't been on the net long.  I heard this
: on a local radio station, but have not heard a good answer yet:
: 
: If your swimming pool was filled with mercury, could you walk on it?  (What 
: would happen if you tried it?)
A friend and I tried to calculate the relevant facts about this late one
night last week.  I think we decided that your foot would sink in, and
then the extreme weight of the mercury would crush your foot.
Basically, you will displace enough volume of mercury to equal your
weight, which is more than enough to cover your foot.  It would also be
mighty slippery, so you would probably slip and hurt yourself pretty
badly.  Since i don't remember the exact  density of mercury, which is
easy enough to look up, I'm not sure exactly how far you'd sink, but it
would be enough to hurt you, i think.  It'd be hard to walk when you're
sunk into it, also.
			John
jkwatson@amh.amherst.edu