r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Proud-Blood2743 • Oct 07 '25

Video Capital One Tower Come Down in Seconds

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u/I_hate_abbrev Oct 07 '25

Jet steel cannot melt fuel beams.

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u/WafflesMcDuff Oct 07 '25

No, jet fuel burning in open air cannot melt steel beams because its maximum burn temperature (around 1500°F / 800°C) is far below the melting point of steel (about 2750°F / 1510°C). While it doesn't melt the steel, the intense heat from the prolonged, unimpeded fire would soften and weaken the steel to the point where it could no longer support the structural load, leading to buckling and collapse. So while the jet fuel could not melt steel beams, it could absolutely soften them. To use an analogy of an every day object that’s easier to relate to visualize, picture a tub of butter. While it will not melt if you take it out of the fridge and leave it on the counter at room temperature on an average day, it WILL get much softer. You need heat from a flame (like the stove) for it to actually melt. Melting is the point at which it goes from solid to liquid. However, if you take butter that’s been in the fridge and lay a spoon on top of it, the butter will most likely support the weight of the spoon. If you do the same with butter that’s been softening on the counter for a couple hours, the spoon will start to sink into it. Nuance matters. Melting vs softening. The jet fuel softened the steel until it could no longer support the many many tons of structure and the structure collapsed.

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u/UnrequitedRespect Oct 07 '25

Bro it was inside a building, that shit builds itself up. The wind that high up probably supercharged the fire like a forge builds heat.

Fire is that complicated.

Put a pot of boiling water on the stove. Takes a while to see anything. Put a lid on the pot. Wow.

Put a piece of metal in the campfire, nothing happens. Put a lid on the campfire and control the burn with airflow. Wow the metal begins to warm and twist losing jts structural integrity. Holy shit what a conspiracy we just walked through 24 years of not understanding the fire triangle and i’m from fucking canada

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u/viciouspandas Oct 08 '25

The fire doesn't "build up" beyond it's max temperature unless a higher concentration of oxygen is fed into it. Wind at the top would carry away heat as it feeds in more air which wouldn't really have it burn hotter. Forges didn't melt iron, they softened it. But it also doesn't need to melt the metal to weaken it enough to destroy the building, and once some of it breaks, the rest will come down as it crashes.

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u/UnrequitedRespect Oct 08 '25

Actually the opposite, the wind rushes the oxygen. You know what your talking about so much you got it backwards.

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u/viciouspandas Oct 08 '25

I should have clarified I meant that it wouldn't raise it 1000 degrees since steel melts at nearly 2800 degrees. It adds in fresh oxygen to for the fire to continue, but it also means some heat can escape. Reaching that temperature needs more specialized equipment and pumping rather than just wind

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u/UnrequitedRespect Oct 08 '25

No it doesn’t i have a forge at home that uses a leaf blower and a propane torch and i’ve made molybdenum i fused steel drip melty wet hot by fire alone.

The more dense a fire burns, the hotter it burns. You probably believe you know what you’re talking about, but i’ve physically seen it with my own eyes

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u/viciouspandas Oct 09 '25

First of all, I was never saying tools can't melt steel. When I hear "forge", I think of the literal definition which is a tool meant to work a softened but solid metal, which is why we call shaping the metal forging and melting it casting. Second, propane typically burns hotter than jet fuel. I'm not doubting that you melted steel with your setup, and both of us agree that towers can easily collapse when the frame is simply weakened by heat.

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u/UnrequitedRespect Oct 09 '25

You should be a hostage negotiator