Some of the floating rocks in water was a mystery before, but now it gets an acceptable explanation. Thanks to X-ray, now scientists discovered how rocks float while others sink.
Phys reported that the floating rocks on water before was just a mystery. And after all those years, people believes supernatural phenomena behind. But now, scientists discovered the means why the rocks float and what can cause them to shrink.
According to Daily News & Analysis, scientists used X-ray to solve the mystery of the floating rocks on water and discovered why some of the rocks can float years at a time. With the help of the X-ray machines at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), scientists were able to solve the mystery of the floating rocks on water through scanning the inside samples.
With the imaging capability of X-ray, scientists have seen the inside samples of the floating rocks on water such as glassy, lightweight while some are porous volcanic or pumice stones. The scientists call it the X-ray experiments through the support and assistance at Berkeley Lab's Advanced Light Source known as Synchrotron.
Scientists discovered that the floating rocks on the water called the pumice are able to float due to the pockets of gases inside its pores. However, it's still uncovered whether how the gases remain trapped inside the pockets of the pumice for long periods.
The scientists compared the floating rocks on the water with the capability of some insects and lizards to actually walk on water through the gas-trapping process that happens in the pumice stones. They explained that a chemical interaction happens on the surface of the water and air above it resulting in a material like a thin skin.
However, the benefit is that the buoyancy of the floating rocks in water for a long time is said to help scientists to discover underwater volcano eruptions. It is through performing a travel for thousands of miles after forming debris patches of pumice rafts on the debris patches on the ocean. Meanwhile, the gas diffusion process that happens on the floating rocks causes it to lose gases and shrink.
