• Question: what happens if you put your hand in liquid nitrogen

    Asked by denise8572 to Jess on 18 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Jess Bean

      Jess Bean answered on 18 Jun 2013:

      Putting your hand in liquid nitrogen is pretty dangerous! It is at -196C and so is pretty cold! Definitely not recommended!

      Despite this …. a phenomenon has been seen with this where your hand is not as damaged as you think it would be! It is called the Leidenfrost Effect and goes like this – your hand is a lot warmer than liquid nitrogen, and so when the nitrogen hits your hand it instantly warms up and turns to a gas. This gas insulates your hand from the coldness of the nitrogen, but it would still be pretty cold.

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