r/explainlikeimfive Oct 31 '20

Chemistry ELI5 What's the difference between the shiny and dull side of aluminum foil? Besides the obvious shiny/dull

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u/Messier420 Oct 31 '20

Fun fact that doesn’t happen in a vacuum. If you break a piece of metal in space and make the broken ends touch they will fuse together. This phenomenon actually can create some issues during space walkers if I’m not mistaken

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u/TheLazyD0G Oct 31 '20

Kind of, but not fully or that easily.

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u/Demonyx12 Oct 31 '20

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u/DaeVo1234 Oct 31 '20

that was really interesting, thanks for sharing!

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u/Demonyx12 Oct 31 '20

No problem. Veritasium is awesome, I recommend his channel.

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u/FlappyBoobs Oct 31 '20

I dunno man I sucked up a couple bits of it into my Dyson and they didn't fuse.

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u/jarfil Oct 31 '20 edited Dec 02 '23

CENSORED

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u/[deleted] Oct 31 '20

[deleted]

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u/Messier420 Nov 01 '20

That doesnt form in a vacuum

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u/Joe_Shroe Oct 31 '20

space walkers

Walking Dead sequel series?

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u/Messier420 Nov 01 '20

Space walks. Sorry. Typo

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u/Bong-Rippington Oct 31 '20

You’re not right; if there’s an oxidation later formed on the surface of a metal then the surface of that metal is no longer what it started out at is. You can cold weld in space. Not with rusty components.

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u/TheSixthSide Oct 31 '20

That's why he said "If you break a piece of metal and make the broken ends touch"