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[Mechanoid]

Do you need steel aquaducts to transport lava?

Continuity issues abound...  

[ctrlfrk]

technically stone would withstand the heat of lava much better than steel would...

[Upthorn]

quote:Originally posted by ctrlfrk:
<STRONG>technically stone would withstand the heat of lava much better than steel would...</STRONG>

Considering that lava is molten stone...

[ctrlfrk]

i always thought lava was molten iron... ever tried melting a rock?

[Akjosch]

Yes, lava is molten rock (temperature between 1000K and 1500K), not molten iron or steel (melting point between about 1400K and 1811K).

You could also build bridges out of copper (melting point: 1358K), bot not bronze or brass.

If you could get your hands on komatite (1900K) or wollastonite (1800K; a high-pressure metamorph of limestone), you could build lava-bearing aqueducts out of it, too.

EDIT: Oh, BTW, iron has a higher melting point than steel, so it should be better suited for building a lava-bearing aqueduct, at least for the hotter forms of lava.

[ September 07, 2006: Message edited by: Akjosch ]

[Aquillion]

quote:Originally posted by Akjosch:
<STRONG>EDIT: Oh, BTW, iron has a higher melting point than steel, so it should be better suited for building a lava-bearing aqueduct, at least for the hotter forms of lava.</STRONG>

Hmm?  This is actually a fairly serious issue, then.  Currently the game requires steel for all lava-based constructions, and disallows iron...  but apparently that is, if anything, backwards.  This is especially problematic with bridges, where it's assumed that the player will just 'know' that they need something tough like steel...  a player with actual detailed knowledge of melting points might try iron, see that it doesn't work, then assume that more easily melted steel wouldn't work, either.

But on the other hand, the steel requirement is a significant gameplay element...

[ September 07, 2006: Message edited by: Aquillion ]

[Arnos]

not sure if this is done, but for now there could just be a pop up message saying you need steel to cross the lava.

[Akjosch]

I assumed the "steel melts faster than iron" part to be common knowledge, actually.   To quote Wikipedia (on the melting point):

"Melting points are often used to characterise organic compounds and to ascertain the purity. The melting point of a pure substance is always higher than the melting point of that substance when a small amount of an impurity is present. The more impurity is present, the lower the melting point. Eventually, a minimum melting point will be reached. The mixing ratio that results in the lowest possible melting point is known as the eutectic point."

Just add wolframite and scheelite to the stone types and let the dwarves extract Tungsten from it; this should (having a melting point at 3695K) make for some nice and very expensive lava bridges and aqueducts.  

[ctrlfrk]

Maybe concrete with steel girder reinforcing...

[Gronut]

Not all rock melts at the same temperature, so just because you have liquid hot magma goin' about doesn't mean that it'll melt all other rock on contact. Also, rock's generally not a good conductor of heat. Magma is created under tremendous pressures and temperatures deep within the earth, and flows out topside through whatever hole it can find, but it doesn't melt out because it transfers heat to surrounding rock slowly and inefficiently. That's why people can walk (albeit in funky protective booties) on the solidified crust over a lava flow and not burn up. Not only can the heat of the lava underneath not keep the crust from, well, being crusty, but the heat it manages to transfer to the crust is insufficient to ignite most thigns in the vicinity of it. Conversely, metals are excellent conductors, so maybe a steel or iron bridge won't melt on account of lava, but it'll sure beam all that heat up at whoever's walkig on it. Mmmmm... Magma Fried Dwarf....

[JT]

It's dragon-licking good!

[Slartibartfast]

quote:Originally posted by JT:
<STRONG>It's dragon-licking good!</STRONG>

No matter how good something tastes, I don't think it will ever cause any sane person to lick a dragon in response.

[Varil]

You just aren't licking the right dragons.