• Question: Is it possible to melt a wooden log?

    Asked by avengedsevenfold to David, Luna, Mark, Melanie, Probash on 23 Mar 2011 in Categories: .
    • Photo: David Pyle

      David Pyle answered on 23 Mar 2011:

      No – when you heat wood, even in the absence of oxygen, the wood progressively decomposes in a process called pyrolysis. The end product of pyrolysis is carbon, which doesn’t melt at atmospheric pressure: it just vapourises. To get molten carbon, you’d have to try this at higher pressure.

      I’m glad you asked, because my Dad wrote a scientific paper on this topic some years ago!

    • Photo: Luna Munoz

      Luna Munoz answered on 23 Mar 2011:

      Because wood cannot be made into liquid, it cannot be melted.

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