Don’t try this at home.
A video on the YouTube channel The Backyard Scientist shows what happens when a molten ball of salt is lowered into a vat of water: it explodes with tremendous power, sprouting a mushroom shape not unlike an atomic bomb, destroying the glass container.
Oddly enough, this was a counter-intuitive outcome. Usually, when molten substances are dropped in water, the Leidenfrost effect prevents any explosion from taking place. Because the molten substance is so hot, it would instantly create a wall of vapor between it and the liquid water.
The steam layer rapidly becomes superheated, causing a large and almost instant increase in pressure.
