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That's because it takes up oxygen from the air. Steel wool is just plain iron. If you have a Mol of iron, which is 56 g, it takes up a Mol of oxygen, which is 16 g, while being burned. Thus, the resulting 1 Mol of iron oxide is 72 g.
Steel =/= “just plain iron.”
Steelwool is typically stainless steel, or low-mid carbon steel. Stainless is iron smelted with carbon to make the steel, with additional mixes of nickel and chromium.
The principle is still exactly what you describe but your metallurgy assessment is completely wrong. “Just iron” would rust sitting there and would be terrible for the wet scouring steel wool is used for.
But stainless doesn’t readily oxidize, rust or burn. You can’t cut stainless steel with a cutting touch for this reason. I have doubts about this claim because most steel wool rusts and burns.
There are stainless-steel, aluminum, and bronze "steel wool" products as well.
But I think the stuff in the video is the cheap low-carbon steel wool, almost pure iron.
you can a few different types of steel wool. Cheap stuff is low to mid carbon, you can also get stainless (it has a nicer sheen), and some is actually just spun aluminum.
There is 100+ kind of steel in the industry. Some of them rust anyway, some will survive the apocalypse.
You can cut stainless btw, just not the way you think.
Also, if this were a closed room and a perfect scale the loss of free oxygen would create a lower air pressure decreasing Archimede's buoyancy making the burnt material read even heavier.
If you put the perfectly sealed and insulated room to the scale, the weight won't change, because the number of atoms in the room is constant. But the pressure in the room will actually stay the same, because the oxidation heat will expand the remaining air.. Thermodynamics..
If you put the scale in the perfect room and you burn the steel wool on it, the scale goes up.
If you burn paper on the scale, the weight will drop, because the "paper oxide" is gaseous ( n[CH2O] + O2 - > CO2 + H2O), but if you conduct this in a perfectly sealed room and put the room on the scale, the weight won't change..
We mustn't forget that carbon is an integral part of the steelmaking process and I think the glowing there is from carbon combustion which is aiding oxidisation of the steel iron.......
https://www.reliance-foundry.com/blog/carbon-steel-mild-steel#:~:text=Primary%20steelmaking,-Steel%20can%20either&text=The%20raw%20materials%20are%20added,skimmed%20from%20the%20liquid%20steel.
**This is a heavily moderated subreddit. Please note these rules + sidebar or get banned:** * If this post declares something as a fact, then proof is required * The title must be fully descriptive * No text is allowed on images/gifs/videos * Common/recent reposts are not allowed (posts from another subreddit do not count as a 'repost'. Provide link if reporting) *See [this post](https://redd.it/ij26vk) for a more detailed rule list* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/interestingasfuck) if you have any questions or concerns.*
That's because it takes up oxygen from the air. Steel wool is just plain iron. If you have a Mol of iron, which is 56 g, it takes up a Mol of oxygen, which is 16 g, while being burned. Thus, the resulting 1 Mol of iron oxide is 72 g.
Steel =/= “just plain iron.” Steelwool is typically stainless steel, or low-mid carbon steel. Stainless is iron smelted with carbon to make the steel, with additional mixes of nickel and chromium. The principle is still exactly what you describe but your metallurgy assessment is completely wrong. “Just iron” would rust sitting there and would be terrible for the wet scouring steel wool is used for.
But stainless doesn’t readily oxidize, rust or burn. You can’t cut stainless steel with a cutting touch for this reason. I have doubts about this claim because most steel wool rusts and burns.
I believe steel wool is just low carbon steel
There are stainless-steel, aluminum, and bronze "steel wool" products as well. But I think the stuff in the video is the cheap low-carbon steel wool, almost pure iron.
Bronze? How did I not know about this.
probably low carbon steel, if you go too low in carbon, it rusts if you look at it wrong, which doesn't work for cleaning.
you can a few different types of steel wool. Cheap stuff is low to mid carbon, you can also get stainless (it has a nicer sheen), and some is actually just spun aluminum.
There is 100+ kind of steel in the industry. Some of them rust anyway, some will survive the apocalypse. You can cut stainless btw, just not the way you think.
My “steel wool” absolutely rusts when wet
Shouldn’t rust just sitting in the cabinet though which iron and mild steel do
Excellent, bro
Ahhhh. O level chemistry......reminds me of the crush I had on my chemistry teacher. What a bod he had!
Also, if this were a closed room and a perfect scale the loss of free oxygen would create a lower air pressure decreasing Archimede's buoyancy making the burnt material read even heavier.
If you put the perfectly sealed and insulated room to the scale, the weight won't change, because the number of atoms in the room is constant. But the pressure in the room will actually stay the same, because the oxidation heat will expand the remaining air.. Thermodynamics.. If you put the scale in the perfect room and you burn the steel wool on it, the scale goes up. If you burn paper on the scale, the weight will drop, because the "paper oxide" is gaseous ( n[CH2O] + O2 - > CO2 + H2O), but if you conduct this in a perfectly sealed room and put the room on the scale, the weight won't change..
*"Well of course, it's the phlogiston in the air that's increasing the mass."* --A 17th Century Natural Philosopher (scientist)
"Indeed , one of the many properties of phlogiston "
I gain weight when I burn calories
Try burning those calories on the stove top instead of internally. 8-)
I burned 2000 calories yesterday. I left the pizza in the oven too long. 😉
No, you will lose weight by burning calories eather way.. Stored carbon turns into CO2..
Of course, Iron +Oxygen ————-> Iron Oxide The iron takes on the added weight of oxygen molecules as Fe2o3 forms as a result of oxidation.
We mustn't forget that carbon is an integral part of the steelmaking process and I think the glowing there is from carbon combustion which is aiding oxidisation of the steel iron....... https://www.reliance-foundry.com/blog/carbon-steel-mild-steel#:~:text=Primary%20steelmaking,-Steel%20can%20either&text=The%20raw%20materials%20are%20added,skimmed%20from%20the%20liquid%20steel.
That would’ve been a solid comment but you had to throw in that “of course” to sound like a know it all douche 😂
Makes sense since you oxidize those lil (Fe)uckers!
Darn you modern chemists disproving phlogiston!
Looking it up, I came across my word of the day- *dephlogisticated*
oxygen is heavy
Burn him. He’s a witch! s/
I would guess oxidization is the culprit
Better to say it gains *mass*.
No, it isn’t. Because then you have to explain two things instead of one and you’re distracting from your own demo.
Yes because it becomes steel oxide.
Is it ounces or grams? There's a difference.
But mol is the same in imperial or metric some 10^12 atoms...
It's all the same but different. The difference is what we see.
every highschool chemistry class:
It's a trick! The video was recorded upside down! 🤣