How Long Does It Take to Melt a 12.5 kg Gold Bar at 3000°C?

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    Gold Melting Time
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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the time it takes to melt a 12.5 kg gold bar at a temperature of 3000°C. Participants explore various factors affecting the melting process, including the method of heating and the implications of using such a high temperature.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants note that the melting time depends on the shape of the gold bar and the method of heat application.
  • One participant argues that melting rate is not solely a function of temperature but rather of heat transfer rate, suggesting the question is not answerable as stated.
  • Another participant mentions that pure 24 karat gold melts at 1,064 °C and questions the practicality of applying 3000 °C, which is above the vaporization point of gold.
  • A suggestion is made that using a specific melting kit could melt just under 10 kg of gold in about four minutes, implying that a similar time frame could be expected for 12.5 kg.
  • There are discussions about the implications of using a vacuum to eliminate air resistance and how that might affect the behavior of water jets, drawing parallels to the melting discussion.
  • Concerns are raised about the clarity of the original question, with some participants expressing frustration over the lack of detail and perceived trolling behavior.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the original question regarding the melting time of the gold bar. There are multiple competing views on the implications of the high temperature and the methods of heating, leading to an unresolved discussion.

Contextual Notes

Participants highlight limitations in the original question, including vagueness and the need for more specific details about the heating method. The discussion also touches on the potential for boiling gold at the stated temperature, complicating the melting inquiry.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be of interest to those exploring the melting processes of metals, the effects of temperature on material states, and the practical applications of high-temperature heating methods in metallurgy.

john56789
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TL;DR
time to melt gold
how long does it take a 12.5 kg gold bar to melting at 3000 degree C°?

Why does the water coming out of the waterjet slow down after a while?
 
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Welcome to PF.

It depends on which way you aim the jet.
If you aim it downwards the water speeds up.
If you aim it upwards the water slows down, stops, then falls back on itself, as it accelerates downwards.
If you aim the jet sideways, it will gradually break up and form lumps of water due to surface tension. The lumps may look like they are going slower, but they are actually going faster because they are also falling due to gravity.
Maybe you could rephrase your question.
 
thanks and my first question?
 
john56789 said:
how long does it take a 12.5 kg gold bar to melting at 3000 degree C°?
Not very long. But it does depend on the shape of the bar.
 
Melting rate is not a function of temperature per se, it is a function of heat transfer rate. The question is not answerable as stated.
 
john56789 said:
thanks and my first question?
Your question is pretty vague, @john56789, and PF is dedicated to scientific accuracy, so it helps to add details to your scenario when asking questions.

Anyway, pure 24 karat gold melts at 1,064 °C at normal pressure conditions, I'll assume that to start. But how is your 3,000 degree C applied? By a blow torch? Over a hob? In an oven? Induction heating?

Why pick 3,000 degrees, by the way, that's above its vaporisation point, so you're actually going to boil your gold.

But to answer your question, check out:


This company's kit can melt just under 10kg of 24 karat gold in four minutes, so your amount would be around four and a half minutes.
 
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Thread closed temporarily for Moderation...

Thread re-opened after restoring both questions that the OP asked.
 
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Melbourne Guy said:
Your question is pretty vague, @john56789, and PF is dedicated to scientific accuracy, so it helps to add details to your scenario when asking questions.

Anyway, pure 24 karat gold melts at 1,064 °C at normal pressure conditions, I'll assume that to start. But how is your 3,000 degree C applied? By a blow torch? Over a hob? In an oven? Induction heating?

Why pick 3,000 degrees, by the way, that's above its vaporisation point, so you're actually going to boil your gold.

But to answer your question, check out:


This company's kit can melt just under 10kg of 24 karat gold in four minutes, so your amount would be around four and a half minutes.
that melt by big electric arc.
and 3000 for fast melting.
how can i melt this gold bar in the fastest way?
 
john56789 said:
Why does the water coming out of the waterjet slow down after a while?
Interpreting this question as applied to a garden hose plus nozzle...

If you kink the hose near the nozzle and suddenly release it, the water will start with a fast/energetic stream and then slow down to whatever the faucet allows. That is because the first bit of water has the full pressure from the water company. The bits thereafter have the pressure reduction due to viscosity at the faucet, in the hose and upstream in the supply lines.

If you squirt the water in the air, the stream will not form a parabolic arch. The far side of the arch will have (typically) broken into droplets and will be moving more slowly and falling more steeply than the near side rises. That is air resistance in action. If the nozzle is adjusted to produce a fine mist, the deceleration may be immediate and dramatic.
 
  • #10
jbriggs444 said:
If you squirt the water in the air, the stream will not form a parabolic arch. The far side of the arch will have (typically) broken into droplets and will be moving more slowly and falling more steeply than the near side rises.

In my years as a kid messing with hoses I'd say the stream typically stays together due to surface tension.

I once observed a shower nozzle. The water coming out expanded for a while then came back together due to surface tension, forming a footballoid shape.
 
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  • #11
What if I create a vacuum and destroy the air resistance?
 
  • #12
Hornbein said:
In my years as a kid messing with hoses I'd say the stream typically stays together due to surface tension.
Love it. Kids are experimentalists at heart.

Surface tension acts to disrupt the stream into droplets. It is a lower energy configuration that way. One can observe this in the kitchen or bathroom sink. A slow stream can be solid at the top but will stretch and break as it falls.

With a garden hose with one's finger over the end, the break-up into droplets takes place rather rapidly. With no thumb over the end, it takes longer and produces larger drops but does still occur.

You also get break-up with a garden sprinkler where the stream is forced to stretch infinitely.
Hornbein said:
I once observed a shower nozzle. The water coming out expanded for a while then came back together due to surface tension, forming a footballoid shape.
Further downstream, that stream would break up longitudinally. It is an unstable equilibrium. The effect of surface tension is to narrow the narrow bits of the stream and to widen the wide bits until a series of globules results. All other things being equal, those globules will tend to relax into spheres.

Edit: found a name for the phenomenon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plateau–Rayleigh_instability
 
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  • #13
jbriggs444
What if I create a vacuum and destroy the air resistance?
 
  • #14
john56789 said:
What if I create a vacuum and destroy the air resistance?
I would expect a series of droplets in a parabolic arch with the droplets moving faster and faster as they drop.

Of course, the droplets may boil away. So you might want to use purified water to remove nucleation sites.
 
  • #15
so by the create a vacuum not reduce the pressure of outed water?
 
  • #16
john56789 said:
so by the create a vacuum not reduce the pressure of outed water?
I do not know what you are trying to ask.
 
  • #17
jbriggs444 said:
I do not know what you are trying to ask.
Nobody does, @jbriggs444, and the OP appears reluctant to elaborate. I've reported this thread, even though it was already closed for moderation, it has the hallmarks of a prank troll. 3,000 degrees is an arbritary temperature and will boil gold, not just melt it, and we don't even know whether the OP is asking for hypothetical answers or a specific engineering purpose.

It is frustrating, why are we wasting our time?
 
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  • #19
Melbourne Guy said:
Nobody does, @jbriggs444, and the OP appears reluctant to elaborate. I've reported this thread, even though it was already closed for moderation, it has the hallmarks of a prank troll. 3,000 degrees is an arbritary temperature and will boil gold, not just melt it, and we don't even know whether the OP is asking for hypothetical answers or a specific engineering purpose.

It is frustrating, why are we wasting our time?

Agreed. This thread is now locked.

Part of the problem is that the newbie OP asked two totally unrelated questions in his first post (and tried to delete one mid-stream), so the thread was basically doomed from the start. Add to that the lack of information from the OP, and, well, the lock.

@john56789 -- For future thread starts, please ask only one question per thread start, and please post links to the reading that you have been doing while trying to answer your own question. When you ask specific clarifying questions about things that you don't understand in your reading, that makes for much better thread starts than this one. Thank you.

And thank you to all of you for trying to help the OP, despite the obstacles in this thread.
 
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