Extreme Pressure and Organic Molecules

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Extreme pressure can significantly affect organic molecules, including human tissues, which are primarily composed of water. Under high pressure, the temperature of these tissues can rise, potentially reaching melting points. When animal tissue is subjected to extreme pressure, the water content can lead to cell rupture, resulting in a solid residue similar to charcoal. This residue can undergo transformations under varying pressure and temperature conditions, potentially forming materials like graphite or diamonds. The discussion highlights the distinction between the effects of pressure and temperature, emphasizing that while compression raises temperature, pressure alone does not. The conversation seeks to clarify the specific impacts of high temperatures and pressures on organic molecules and the conditions under which these effects occur.
Adamand
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Hello all,

I understand that an increase in pressure yeilds an increase in temperature (in gases). However, I was wondering if extreme pressures can raise the temperature of organic molecules (such as the tissues in a human body) to melting point.

Thanks!
 
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Animal tissue is 70% water. If you squeeze it, that's what you'll get. Cells are little water-balloons that can burst. One-way sponges.

The dried stuff that would be left is practically charcoal, it's solid.

And then depending on what pressure exactly you have in mind, and which temperature cycles and specific environmental conditions, charcoal can eventually become any kind of "fossil fuel", graphite or diamond.
 
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Dr Lots-o'watts said:
Animal tissue is 70% water. If you squeeze it, that's what you'll get. Cells are little water-balloon that can burst. One-way sponges.

The dried stuff that would be left is practically charcoal, it's solid.

I guess my real question is, what would happen to these "solid" molecules under extreme pressure?
 
You'll get very impure diamonds.
 
Compression raises the temperature, not the pressure itself. A pressurized gas canister has the same temperature as anything around it, obviously.

So what's the actual question: What the effect of high temperatures is, or what the effect of high pressures is? (or possibly both) And in what conditions?
 
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