Disable the Bomb
Science brain teasers require understanding of the physical or biological world and the laws that govern it.
There is a box with a highly explosive bomb inside it. The lid of the box is made of glass and attached to this lid is a bowl of mercury with a dozen exposed wire leads just out of reach of the mercury. You know that any attempt to remove the lid or cut through it would move the mercury enough to trip the bomb. How do you safely disarm this booby trap to disengage the bomb?
Answer
By heating the steel box and raising the temperature inside, the mercury, which has a relatively low evaporation point, will disappear making it safe to lift the lid. Just be careful not to inhale any of the fumes.
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Comments
mad-ade   
Jun 02, 2002
| How about freezing it, wouldn't that also work. Not that i know a great deal about Mercury. |
(user deleted)
Jun 03, 2002
| If U Breath The Fumes You Would Die so You Are Taking a Big Risk! |
bluetwo
Jun 03, 2002
| the problem with freezing the mercury, although it would probably work, is that you'd have to somehow get the temp down to -38F or -39C (mercury's freezing point). unless you happen to have a little liquid nitrogen on hand... =) |
Shryke
Jun 04, 2002
| How about using a straw or large syringe to just suck the mercury out of the bowl, and avoid all the dangers? |
cathalmccabe
Jun 07, 2002
| I thought the mercury would expand first, before it evapourates touching the wires?? I thought freezing would be a better solution, because the volume of mercury will decrease giving you more room to work with. Even only down to 0 degrees C, you would have more room to work with. Whats wrong with having liquid Nitrogen anyway? It is a situation. |
missie
Jun 16, 2002
| Shryke, that would stille be VERY, VERY, VERY dangerous. Mercury is a deadly substance and getting any in your body is a very BIG risk. You should never ever put mercury on your body and especially in your mouth! |
Krocman
Jun 17, 2002
| Too late for me then |
NuttyPrince
Jul 06, 2002
| i was playing with a thermometer and a lightbulb once...rayn how much time do u have on ur hand so that u can make so many riddles!!!! nice one neway...
-Nutty |
NuttyPrince
Jul 06, 2002
| I feel a bit left out with the solutions...maybe u cud ask The Big S...the only thing he is vulnerable to is red and green kryptonite.Sorta cheesey wernt it? I liked ur comment on thingys riddle bout the fireman and crap...
-Nutty |
CCat20  
Oct 03, 2002
| couldn't the bomb not be lit? |
lessthanjake789
Jun 04, 2005
| mercury is used in regular thermometers because its volumic expansion is greater than that of average materials (ie glass and steel) and thats why it can give accurate temperature readings of such a scale... obviously, it would need such a high temp t evaporate it, it would expand a LOT before hand |
sweetime
Jul 13, 2005
| why can't we spill the mercury? |
akl21 
Jul 25, 2006
| Isn't this more like Science than Situation? |
dudebomb93
Oct 29, 2007
| ONE OF THWE FIRST I DIDNT GET |
vg674
Mar 30, 2008
| I had thought of that early on, but I questioned the fact of what the explosive is.I unfortunately made the assumption that the highly explosive bomb was highly sensitive to heat.
Besides that, great teaser! |
xdbtcp
Mar 16, 2010
| Thanks MacGyver. |
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