Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Manufacturer claims their skillets can withstand temperature of 30000 F

metalresearcher - 20-10-2023 at 10:37

A New Jersey woman has filed a lawsuit against a cookware manufacturer who claims that their skillets have had an anti stick treatment and can withstand 30000 F (16600 C). Yes, there are not too many zeroes, way hotter than the Sun !
Obviously this is nonsense ... but ... in very small space (far less than a cubic millimeter) plasma generated by electric arc can generate extreme temperatures. Even a simple spark of low voltage / amperage can be several thousands of degrees confined in cubic microns. Or am I wrong ?

https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/20/23925424/sharkninja-laws...


[Edited on 2023-10-20 by metalresearcher]

Cathoderay - 21-10-2023 at 09:57

Well the devil is in the details.
As far as I can see the manufacturer does not say the pans can withstand being heated to 30000, just that that temperature is used in the manufacturer of the pans.

A plasma can be that hot, often it has to be in a near vacuum however. If I recall, arc welding can produce a temperature as high as 40000 degrees. What makes the difference is the amount of mass that is heated to that temperature. With a very small mass of material, even if it is heated to an extreme temperature the amount of heat energy it contains is not huge.
There is fusion reactor research that have heated plasma (in a vacuum chamber) to over a million degrees. It could be that the pan manufacturer shoots a low density plasma at the pan and the atoms of the plasma cool instantly on contact with the metal pan and solidify. So the plasma is that hot but the pan never is.

It is an entirely different question of just what properties this coating has. Advertisers like big impressive numbers. What the numbers mean is seldom clear.





clearly_not_atara - 21-10-2023 at 11:05

Sounds like a typo and the manufacturer meant 3000 F. Many materials can withstand this temperature.