On Tue, 21 Dec 2010 06:00:10 -0500, lid wrote:

On Mon, 20 Dec 2010 21:12:54 -0500, "Phil Kangas"
wrote:

I'm going to try this url to see if it works.
This video is of mercury attacking aluminum.
Can you explain the reaction?
phil k.



http://tinyurl.com/286pl63




And now you know why it is illegal to bring mercury filled
thermometers onto commercial aircraft flights.
Dave

Just a guess. If mercury alloys with or dissolves aluminum, then the
dissolved aluminum would react rapidly with oxygen to aluminum oxide,
and being dissolved be unable to form the tough aluminum oxide coating
that normally stops this reaction. So the aluminum is depleted in
solution, more dissoves, and so on.

Pete Keillor