this post was submitted on 20 Mar 2025
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Illustrations of history
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What does sand do at these temperatures? Is it essentially molten glass?
the fires they had were probably not hot enough to melt sand into glass without some additives.
Instead, it's a fine particulate that can be heated way hotter than water, and because the grains are small enough they will disperse over a large area causing burns to people in a large area below
And it's much easier and cleaner to keep around. Hard to store water in a bag, after all
Ever get sand stuck in your clothes?
Imagine that at or near the temperature of boiling water.
Sand retains heat pretty well, flows quickly, and is a bitch to get out. Not only that, but it's great at slipping in where its recipients wouldn't want it - down the collar, under a mail shirt, through the visor of a helmet, you name it. You'll be covered in serious burns, third-degree even, potentially, if you get caught under it, and sand is dirt-cheap.
That's brilliant. I mean... awful, of course. But brilliant.
Why stop at boiling water temperature? Sand can get much hotter. Was the improvement in damage not worth the time required to heat it more?
Oh, I have no clue about the exact temperatures, only that they used boiling water for similar functions, so it seemed intuitive to use it as a comparison.
One of the benefits of sand over water is the same as the benefit of boiling oil: it can get considerably hotter than water's 100⁰C
Ah ok. I guess I'll have to find the optimal temperature for the hot sand some other way, you know just in case (for minecraft of course).
"A man's home should be his castle." - Someone planning on dumping red-hot sand on top of uninvited guests
Probably also the fact it flows a lot slower as molten glass.
There's plenty of room from boiling water temperature to the ~2000°C (3632°F) needed to melt sand. At 600°C it'd be still solid but also could set the things it touches on fire.
Have you walked barefoot on sand in a hot summer day? I guess this is much much worse and all over your body.