Why does dry ice burn like fire?
Some people use dry ice instead of ordinary ice to keep their picnic drinks cool and refreshing. It does not melt in the summery heat and douse the sandwiches with water, as ordinary ice tends to do. But dry ice must be handled with care because it tends to burn the fingers. When you touch a hot stove, as everyone knows, you get burned. Some of the small skin cells are destroyed, and if the burn is bad enough the ce11s in the tender tissue bel0w the skin also are destroyed. Your f1esh is cooked like meat, and it takes the body perhaps weeks to repair the damage. Besides, burns are very painful accidents. When you handle dry ice, your fingers feel as if they have touched a hot stove. The painful sensation feels like a burn. But the cause of the damage to the fingers by dry ice is the very opposite from the hot stove that causes a burn. Both wounds are caused by extreme temperatures. But a hot stove is a lot hotter than boiling water, and dry ice is a lot colder than freezing water. Wate
