Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Turning sand into water. Is this theoretically possible?

13enigma - 21-12-2017 at 10:05

Can it be possible theoretically speaking and if not why would that be?

Assured Fish - 21-12-2017 at 10:41

Ok, i can kinda sympathize with your other questions but now it starting to get a little silly.
Sand is made of primarily sillicon dioxide, SiO2.
Although it often forms complex polymorphs with nabouring SiO2 molecules and so it tends to make up a network.

Silicon dioxide is incredibly inert and has a hard time reacting with anything, thats not to say its on par with the nobel gasses but it is used as the main component of lab glassware for a reason.

Water is H2O, I very much doubt that there is any way to convert a silicon atom into a proton.
It is possible for certain nuclei to undergo nuclear decay such as alpha decay and give up a proton however this is extremely rare.

If you have even so much as a lick of understanding of chemistry or the laws of physics then i see no reason why you cannot answer this question yourself.

MrHomeScientist - 21-12-2017 at 11:06

While you can convert sand directly into water, such an unnatural transmutation drains your energy tremendously and will leave you greatly weakened, if not outright kill you. A much better option is to summon the moisture from the ground just under the surface, where the sand is moist.

aga - 21-12-2017 at 11:26

What ? This is in no way Chemistry, and very little energy is required to achieve it.

The simple trick is to go the seaside with a shovel.

At the edge of the tide, carefully dig up 1 shovel full of sand, extend the shovel over the water, then invert it so the sand falls off into the water.

Tada! Sand 'turned' into water ;)

LearnedAmateur - 21-12-2017 at 13:48

You can reduce SiO2 to SiO and water using H2 at high temperatures. Albeit, there are far easier ways to get your hands on some dihydrogen monoxide, turning on a tap is one.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0022459674...

[Edited on 21-12-2017 by LearnedAmateur]

Bert - 21-12-2017 at 14:07

Personally, I prefer to turn water into beer. Sand is too crunchy for me to deal with.

Turning that beer back into water via bio remediation can also be quite entertaining. But I always end up with more water out of this cycle than I put in originally- Apparently, Einstein may have been wrong on a few things as mass is not conserved here. We will need to do more research on this. Lots more research.

I will probably need some lab assistants. Aga and Arkoma?

[Edited on 21-12-2017 by Bert]

aga - 21-12-2017 at 14:16

Sir, Yes Sir !

300 gallons sounds like a lot, but we Will Do It SIR !

'Ten HUN ! Right Turn!
Hut hut hut hut hut hut.
HALT !
No, the Other Right.
DOH, Sir DOH !
ABOUT TURN !
Hut Hut Hut hut hut hut.

Metacelsus - 21-12-2017 at 14:18

Quote: Originally posted by MrHomeScientist  
While you can convert sand directly into water, such an unnatural transmutation drains your energy tremendously and will leave you greatly weakened, if not outright kill you. A much better option is to summon the moisture from the ground just under the surface, where the sand is moist.


I see someone's read Eragon . . .

hissingnoise - 22-12-2017 at 06:37

Quote:
Personally, I prefer to turn water into beer.


I like doing the opposite!


MrHomeScientist - 22-12-2017 at 07:15

Glad someone got the reference!