Recent content by cayucos

In fact, just went to sketch out the scene with the grid idea and I like it. It works. Thank you! In fact, thanks to all here who've given great ideas and some laughs. You physics geeks rock. (using 'geek' admiringly)

Now that's clever. So, if the mercury level rises enough he'll be pressed against the grid, with the threat of, well, drowning in the stuff. I assume drowning would come before the issue of pressure arises.

@Crazymechanic: Actually, I do have a lightning storm in the wings, and the elemental mercury is metallic... Sigh. Really do want to keep my guy in that mercury bath. And have him capable of speech...

@olivermsun: Arggh. Doesn’t leave me much wiggle room. Okay, back to the drawing board: Perhaps I can tweak this scene so that he is in the container, partly submerged. And the THREAT is to add more mercury to the container, covering him, causing all manner of discomfort. So let’s say he’s...

@OxDEADBEEF: Ah, gotcha. If you’ll indulge me a bit further: I can make the container small enough that it just accommodates the man’s body (fiction is useful, that way ;). So, about six feet long and a couple of feet wide. Would that do the trick? He can be in some pain but not so much he...

Thanks for the replies. I really appreciate the help. Elemental mercury is poorly absorbed through the skin, and the Hg would only very slowly release vapor, so poisoning isn’t the immediate worry. So if I understand the info so far correctly: The pressure on the lungs is not going to be a big...

Hi, I’m a non-scientist looking for help with a physics (I think) question regarding a mystery I’m writing. A man is submerged in a very small pool of elemental mercury. He is strapped to bolts at the concrete bottom, so that he will not float. The liquid just covers his body. My...

Ah, thanks! I'll check the sites you mention first, and then google.

Hey, I tried to find the thread/post you're referring to, and failed. Could you provide a link?

Oooh, that sounds intriguing. I'll go check it out. Thanks!

Mmmmm, that's a thought. I do need the sand clue to lead the geologist, eventually, to the site of the experiment, so as long as the pollution was localized enough, meaning coming up from the seamount experiment, could work. I also wonder if this might help along my 'jetstream' issue. That...

Oh dear. Now I'm back in trouble. But what if the water (or gas) was propelled through a hose or a pipe (to the surface, or nearly so)? Then it couldn't "suck in" the surrounding water and grow into an elephantine blob. Yes? No? Also, doesn't have to sandblast the entire hull. Just a...

Okay, sounds as though I'm close enough to make it work. As long as some knowledgeable engineer wouldn't stop reading and hurl the book across the room ;) Thanks.

Well, to at least edge up to the realm of possibility... Let's say the pressurized tank on the seamount summit has a hose attached--a means for filling the tank from a ship. So then, when bad guy does sabotage, the hose becomes pressurized and takes the gas/liquid to the surface? Or maybe a...

Thanks to all who have posted with ideas/advice. I really appreciate it. I've come up with a scenario I hope will work and would sure like to run it past y'all. There's an experiment sited on the summit of a seamount. Summit is about 100 feet below the sea surface. Experiment equipment...