Heating Stuff With 2000 Degrees of Solar Power

Solar Scorcher,” a Fresnel lens taken from an old television boils water, torches wood, and melts pennies, nickles, and even concrete at about 2000 degrees Fahrenheit.

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.

via The Awesomer