Mercury is the only heavy metal that can be found in a liquid state at normal ambient temperatures and is quite hazardous to health as it has been declared a type 2B carcinogenic material. So what do you do when you have a bucket full the poisonous yet equally fascinating mercury? You flush it down the toilet of course! And all the while making everyone cringe and beg for mercy as you repeatedly dip bare hands into the liquid.
YouTube channel Cody’s Lab filmed an experiment where for some odd reason, he got curious about what would happen if mercury is used instead of water in flushing down a toilet. While the experiment looks bizarre, the results were very fascinating and unique to witness.
The video first shows Cody trying to flush down a lead bullet and a gold bar using water. But since lead and gold are denser than water, it doesn’t go down easily. Then the same test is used by flushing mercury, and the results are astonishing.
Then Cody dumps the mercury starting from a small amount to increasingly larger amounts. The toilet has a hard time coping up with the denser liquid and its fluid pressure, and eventually starts giving up.
Even then the porcelain seat was not spared, as Cody’s tried pouring 240 pounds (109 kilogrammes) of mercury into the toilet while replacing all of the water. So what did happen? Did it flush down? Did he break the flush for good? And the biggest question of all, did Cody survive after literally bathing with the dangerous material?
You’ll have to watch the video to find out!
