Say a dissolvable spring is compressed with a bolt and nut that do not melt in a sulfuric acid solution. The spring has quite a bit of potential energy at this point since it is compressed. Assuming the spring dissolves perfectly (no breakage, just complete disintegration), what happens to the potential energy of the spring?
I would imagine that as the tiny bits of the spring are released from one another, the stored energy would be released as a small force within the acid. That is, even if the reaction was perfect down to the molecular level, the new molecule combination would be “launched” away from the spring more vigorously than if the spring weren’t compressed. So you’d end up with the acid being “stirred” a bit by the reaction.
I’m just trying to visualize this, it’d be similar when you break something in half and a tiny piece goes flying
Yes Ik very different concepts but I’m just trying to make visual brain happy here
Yeah, kinda like breaking a handful of dry spaghetti (sorry Italians).