A video posted by a Thai user on FB shows a black stone which is melting a nail and it has gone viral in Thailand. The video shows a gloved-hand lowering a nail onto a stone which “melts” right into it. The “clipdang” page gave a short description with the video stating that “Iron-eating stone is in Myanmar. Found by a Karen soldier. Put the gun close to it, then the gun melted. It is a duty of the experts to find the truth.”
Since the video was posted on April 7, more than 9 million people have seen it. However, some commenters were quick to point out that it was fake. They said that this was a very common trick which is made possible using a gallium metal nail. It has a melting point of about 29.8 degrees C. One of the commenters said. “Fake stuff. The nail isn’t iron but rather gallium metal. Stone is set out in direct sun for a short time, being black it will absorb the heat, the mild heat temps of it easily cause the gallium to melt. That’s why the person was wearing gloves to prevent their body heat from melting the gallium.”
This comment was backed by a fact-checking post on Snopes which said that the video was highly doubtful. One of the reasons was that if the nail was made of steel or iron as stated in the video description, then it would have turned bright red when turned into liquid form, not silver. They said, “In addition to the immutable laws of physical chemistry, claims that this rock is dissolving a typical nail are dubious, as well, because the video is showing a fairly obvious science parlor trick.” This fact is also backed up by the fact that the person in the video was wearing a glove. So that the gallium nail doesn’t melt in his own hands.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments section.