Walking on Fire

 The primary objective of this Pari talks blogspot.com is to draw out a smile from serious-minded science lovers, and no foul language is used.

L'objectif principal de ce blog Pari Talks blodpsot.com est de tirer un sourire des amateus de science serie'ux, acun langage grossier n'est utilise'.

Walking on Fire

PKGhatak, MD

No.22

The travel brochures for Fiji, Vietnam, or Thailand prominently display a man walking barefoot on the burning amber. This is not a gimmick but a real event. After walking on the burning charcoal, the man willingly allows anyone to examine his feet, and no burns are visible.

Is this magic or the mind over matter.

The answer should be easy for anyone who cooks regularly or occasionally.

If you bake a dish in the oven at 400°F, and open the oven door to take the dish out. The inside of the oven feels hot, but it would not burn the skin. However, if you touch any metal accidentally, you would have a painful burn.

Hot metals conduct heat faster than wood, air, and various thermal insulators we use to make homes comfortable in winter. Heat from burning charcoal conducts heat more slowly than heat from burning coal. The ash covering the amber acts as an insulator. The skin on the feet is thick and has a high amount of water. All these give the man enough time to walk across the fire arena safely. But this require training and acquiring the correct walking speed and placing foot on the surface of the of bed fire, and not to displace the amber so that the feet do not go deeper in the fire bed which has a higher temperature and amber will come in contact with lighter skin in the other areas of the foot.

Science can also tell you why attempting to walk on rivers and lakes is sheer foolishness.

http://ghataksays.blodspot.com

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