Can you swim in lava with a fireproof suit?

Answer 1

Answer 1: No you can't swim in lava, even in a fireproof suit. Even if your suit does not burst into flame, the heat of the lava would still be enough to cook you very thoroughly.

In other words, you will die.

It should be noted that you can only "swim" in fluid that is less dense than your body, like water (liquid hydrogen or liquid oxygen, too; but the other extreme occurs and you freeze to death in a few seconds). What determines whether you can swim in a liquid is which is more dense - you or the liquid.

Suppose you invented a suit that keeps cool, covers your entire body - and does not burn in lava! You will float in a liquid which is more dense than your body, and you will sink in a liquid that is less dense. If you jumped into molten lava, you would stay on top unless you had something incredibly heavy for ballast.

>> Anyone who wishes to swim in lava is definitely denser than the lava.

Answer 2:

Let's consider the possibility of the impossible.

You walk into Walmart and buy some "leather-man" fireproof lava-diving gear with integrated cooling for your own safety. Let's say the suit won't restrain your movement much at all, and so slippery that the lava won't stick to it either.

There are many different kinds of lava. From the very runny to the quite hard and slow-moving stuff. It depends on composition and temperature.

Common for them all is that the density is quite high. Much higher than that of our body, so we would not sink in deeply at all. Anything lighter per volume unit will float. It would be like swimming in thick honey, and from there it will get worse.

As for density, you could use weights to weigh you down in order to make sure you get below the surface. Scuba divers do that. But you would need very heavy metal, such as lead or depleted uranium.

As for visibility below...you only see what's stuck to your faceplate.

So it depends on what your definition of swimming is. It would probably be more like crawling in a dense mixture of syrup and sand.

So the answer could be a YES if the lava-diving gear is as good as it must be in order to fully protect the brave explorer inside it. It must not only be fireproof/heatproof. It must also be nonstick, otherwise you're stuck.

Another Thing to Consider: Lava is about 200 to 2200 degrees Celsius (392-3992 Fahrenheit) at the surface, depending on the stage of cooling. A flow of the smooth running lava (pahoehoe) would be near the upper range, while the chunky lava (a'a) would be slightly cooler near the surface but very hot inside. To "swim" in pahoehoe you would have to find something that would withstand those temperatures which is unlikely. Even the vulcanologists studying our Hawaiian volcanoes can only stand close to the lava flow to gather samples for a short time, even in protective gear. I have stood within a couple of feet of a slow moving pahoehoe "toe" and the heat was intense. I could barely stand there for the short time it took my husband to snap the photo!

EVERYTHING ABOVE IS CORRECT... But if you need a mental image, think of that closing scene from Terminator 2... when Arnold rides the chain hoist down into the molten steel. THAT's about what you're proposing. The result would be about the same, except you wouldn't be able to give us a thumbs up. You'd be burning alive.

Answer 3Lets look at the hard evidence for a moment. Of course it can be done, even if for only a few moments. Smeagol does it at the end of LOTR, right? Right? OK, he's kinda stationary, but you can see that he could have taken a few strokes if he had been inclined...

If you're at the bottom when the lava hardens, you're trapped forever.

Answer_4">Answer 4Yes, the suite would need several layers:

1. The outer layer would need to heat the lava 5-10% above max thermal temp for the type of lava substance. Compare this to slicing butter with a knife 10% above the temperature of the butter.

2. The next layer would consist of a heat shield such as is used on the shuttle for re-entry: RCC: Reinforced carbon-carbon - used in the nose cap and wing leading edges. This is used where reentry temperature exceeds 1,260 °C (2,300 °F)

3. The next layer would consist of an insulator (or should I say super-insulator)

4. The next layer would consist of compounds for extreme heat-exchange to transfer the heat energy

5. The next layer would be component based to transfer the heat energy to kinetic energy for powering a propulsion device (I doubt the human makeup would suffice for energy needed to actually swim through the lava due to it's viscosity)

6. The next layer would act as an additional insulator(s)

7. The next layer (or layers) would act as thermal and pressure exchangers (reducing the remaining thermal energy)

8. The next layer would consist of a pressurized boundary (for protection/separation of the lave suit occupant)

9. Components inside the occupant area would consist of H2O storage, CO2 scrubbers, release valves, safety monitors, navigation controls, etc...etc...etc

All in all it could be accomplished......

Answer 5I used to pose a similar question using the idea of paddling down a river of lava in a rubidium canoe. Rubidium is a crystal found in molten lava. If, IF, and again, if a suit with an appropriate cooling and breathing system could be produced, it could well be rubidium-based.

Answer 2

No, but you can often swim under burning liquid that is floating on the surface.

Fire is a chemical reaction between a fuel source and oxygen in the air. So unless you can swim in air, the fuel source, or the surface the fuel source is resting upon, then no.

Answer 3

No your body would instantly shut Down of the fatigue the heat would cause your body. Its like trying to drive a car through a fire there's no oxygen, it stalls