Lava is, at minimum, nearly 1300 degrees Fahrenheit as it rolls down a volcano’s sides or rockets into the air. It can cause fires, kill people, and eat through almost any substance more effectively than even the most powerful acid.
So, yeah, we’re totally going to throw a Coke can on that stuff!
Coke Is It!
Adding to the fun is that a Coke can is, however weak, a pressure vessel. It may not generally be explosive, although that can change if you put it in circumstances extreme enough. So really, this is a race between how quickly the liquid can boil and pop the can with the pressure against the ability of lava to melt aluminum.
Coke Rocks
Not to spoil the video or anything, but it turns out that the lava wins. The first can tested actually has a small hole punched in it just so it doesn’t explode right off the bat, which, combined with the heat and the small space, turns it into a tiny little firehose of Coke. The second can is the full, unopened monty and as such, the lava gets a chance to eat through the can and let out the sweet caffeine-laden deliciousness.
Weirdly, you can actually see the Coke bubbling against the lava. It doesn’t evaporate right off the bat, like you’d think. Well, score one for the Coke company, one supposes.
Dead Soldier
This video, if you’re wondering, is courtesy of YouTube user lavapix, aka Brian Lowry, a professional photographer based out of Hawaii who specializes in filming and photographing lava. He used a Nikon and a GoPro to get the videos you see here, and happily puts other objects in the way of lava flows. Now we’re wondering what’s going under the lava flow next; we’re kind of hoping it’s a few Bieber CDs, just on general principle.
