r/nottheonion • u/Vera_Telco • 9d ago

DC heat melts head off wax replica of Abraham Lincoln

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0xxjn07d6qo
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290

u/Specialist-Fly-9446 9d ago

Article leaves out the most important part - what is the melting point of this candle wax, and how hot was it?

172

u/Porkodile 9d ago

Wax can have a pretty big large difference for melting points, beween 100F - 190F. Apparently it didn't even reach 100F in DC although that could be wrong.

128

u/EddieSpaghettiFarts 9d ago

They measure that temp in the shade. Poor Abe doesn’t even have an umbrella.

110

u/ArethereWaffles 9d ago

It's also a measure of air temperature which is different from an object's surface temperature. Just because the air is 90F doesn't mean asphalt roads, metal railings, or wax statues are at 90F

47

u/SuperOrangeFoot 9d ago

Yeah it seems wild to me to look at a melting object in direct sunlight and go “what is the ambient temperature of the air surrounding it?”

6

u/bingate10 8d ago

It shouldn’t be wild it is basic thermodynamics. Both are important. Air removes solar radiant heat absorbed by objects. Colder air moving faster will drive cooling most. Air got too warm and/or stagnant and the wax heated above melt point from sunlight. It was fine in the sun before it melted.

11

u/Specialist-Fly-9446 9d ago

It is interesting for those with a sense of intellectual curiosity.

19

u/firedmyass 9d ago

“there’s dozens of us!”

10

u/Quake_Guy 9d ago

Somehow measuring solar load as a temperature adder as humidity is used to create heat index has never been done.

As someone who lives in Phoenix, I am curious. I seem to be the only one that brings it up.

1

u/Rae_Regenbogen 8d ago

Now that I've read this comment, I'm just going to pretend that the artist made the head out of a wax that has a lower melting point just for the lolz

36

u/_Rand_ 9d ago

Looks like most waxes are between 120-180f, but some can be as low as 75f.

Given the idea behind this was to melt I'd assume they used some sort of blend that kept it much lower than 120f but not so low it would be a puddle on a slightly warm day.

It does sound like it's melting faster than intended though.

7

u/OtakuboyT 9d ago

It's so hot... I saw a funeral procession pull into the Dairy Queen drive thru

It was so hot today that Burger King was singing, “If you want it your way, cook it yourself!”

  • Johnny Carson

9

u/MarvinLazer 9d ago

It doesn't need to melt to be structurally compromised.

8

u/Specialist-Fly-9446 9d ago

I just want the numbers!

3

u/Roofofcar 8d ago

A different article I read this morning said it was 140F

1

u/[deleted] 8d ago

[deleted]

1

u/Specialist-Fly-9446 8d ago

I think you responded to the wrong comment.

2

u/unclepaprika 8d ago

Lol, indeed