Melt a stack of pennies, burst a glass bottle, damage various food items, and incinerate wood using the power of the Sun! This 4 foot magnifying lens will melt concrete, and nearly anything else that gets in its way.

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Endcard Links:

Solar Scorcher: http://bit.ly/MegaSolarScorcher
Scorcher Frame: http://bit.ly/SolarCookingFrame
Water Explodes: http://bit.ly/H2OExplode
Rocket Fuel: http://bit.ly/DIYRocketFuel

Music By:
http://www.danosongs.com (Crazy from the message)

Project Inspired By:

This “Solar Scorcher” project was originally inspired by Dan Rojas of GreenPowerScience: http://youtu.be/JkgFk15uBxw (Fresnel Lens Giant “Big Daddy”)

WARNING:

This project should not be attempted without adult supervision and adequate training. Misuse, or careless use, of tools or projects may result in serious injury property damage, or death. Concentrated solar energy can start fires and cause personal and property damage. Concentrated UV radiation may cause blindness. Do not look directly at focal point without eye protection like welding goggles. Burning of metals like zinc, may release toxic gasses that can be harmful if inhaled. Extreme caution is advised. Use of this video content is at your own risk.

Project History & More Info:

LEGALITIES: Some people have asked about the legality of treating pennies in this manner. The federal law states that there are exceptions made for use as “educational, amusement, novelty, jewelry, and similar purposes as long as the volumes treated and the nature of the treatment make it clear that such treatment is not intended as a means by which to profit solely from the value of the metal content of the coins.” For more information, see: https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2007/04/16/E7-7088/prohibition-on-the-exportation-melting-or-treatment-of-5-cent-and-one-cent-coins

A 4 foot magnifying glass is powerful enough to melt metal, incinerate wood, and burn holes in concrete.

Putting that statement to the test with various items was the purpose of this project. I’m impressed at the results, and excited at the power available through this Fresnel lens that I’ve nicknamed my “Solar Scorcher”.

In the summer, the sunlight at this spot is around 2000ºF, maybe more. Enough to melt spots of concrete into glowing orange liquid.

I’m curious to see what I can do with all this heat so I’ve filled a glass bottle with water and I’ll punch a hole in the cap. It’s incredible to see that the instant I focus my lens on the bottle, it starts smoking. Just a few moments later this water is so hot it’s boiling, and I’m a little nervous the bottle might blow. Yep, there it goes. I’ll try burning a penny, and, wow, it melted. How about a stack of pennies? Yep, they’re nothing but liquid metal now, and I’m thinking that slag in the mixture must be what’s left of the copper coating. It’s only taking about 4 seconds to melt these.

Well, I’m convinced there’s an insane amount of power behind these lenses. If you’d like to see where I got this one, take a look at my video on how I hacked it out of an old TV.

This one boiled water in less than a minute, welded a nickel to concrete, and instantly torched any piece of wood in it’s way.

It was brought to my attention that Kipkay did a project like a couple of years ago that he called the “Solar Death Ray”. Check out his awesome video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAT6IRBK_uE