When neutron stars collide, they crash into and kill each other in a kilonova explosion, which blasts a lot of their material into space. A huge amount of neutronium, neutron star stuff, is suddenly no longer in the high pressure of the star, and instantly expands explosively into normal matter. In other words, thou shalt not have isolated teaspoons of neutronium. But is the same true for the crust, made of a form of highly compressed iron called nuclear pasta, 10 billion times stronger than steel? Is the crust material of neutron stars stable outside of neutron stars?
None of these compositions is stable at low pressures. Specifically, you need to have them surrounded by a high density gas of degenerate electrons to suppress the beta decay of neutrons and neutron-rich nuclei. Putting this stuff into a low density environment would be explosive (but somewhat less) just as in the case of "neutronium" (neutron matter inside neutron stars contains protons and electrons too). This is not because of the beta decay, which is a slow process, but because the constituents have a huge amount of kinetic energy (that is what pressure is).
The structure of laser-shock-compressed polycrystalline iron was probed using in situ x-ray diffraction over a pressure range spanning the α-ε phase transition. Measurements were also made of the c/a ratio in the ε phase, which, in contrast with previous in situ x-ray diffraction experiments performed on single crystals and large-scale molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are close to those found in high-pressure diamond anvil cell experiments. This is consistent with the observation that significant plastic flow occurs within the nanosecond time scale of the experiment. Furthermore, within the sensitivity of the measurement technique, the fcc phase that had been predicted by MD simulations was not observed.
If his power has an "inertia", and the bauble only slowly expands back to its original size once the effect stops, he can still use the expansion to break pretty much anything, but in the way of a hydraulic piston instead of a bomb. Inversely, the compression itself may be used to crush things with irresistible force, possibly up to nuclear fusion level. If you want to avoid this, the compression or expansion effect may be resisted externally due to how the power itself works - if expansion is limited, an object could be kept indefinitely in its compressed state if, for example, encased in something hard.
Baubles massing several tons are extraordinarily scary things. They will fall through the ground if you leave them there. So as Hephaïstos is strong enough to wear it, he is also strong enough to throw them, and there is nothing (barring other superpowers) that can survive that level of armour-piercing. If he needs less armour-piercing and more impact damage, simply compress it less, to have more contact surface for the same projectile mass and speed. If he can compress and throw shrapnel, armor-piercing dust would also be a terrifying weapon. And of course, a bauble knife or cutting wire will cut through anything. Conversely, compressed armor will stop any non-superpowered attack with sheer mass and density.
Metals are to some degree compressible, and they may be compressed even further undergoing some phase transitions to denser modifications. Plutonium is a metal famous for having many modifications and a more dense modification created under high pressure is one ingredient of a nuclear bomb.
I'll be looking at the energy side of this with my admittedly very cursory understanding of degenerate matter, because it's pretty interesting. If you want to compress metal down to small, but still macroscopic sizes it's probably alright to disregard anything to do with the nucleus and just look at the Fermi energy of the electron gas within the metal. The energy per electron is $E = \hbar^2 (3\pi^2*Electron Density)^2/3/2me $ in a Fermi gas. According to this table -astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Tables/fermi.html the value for iron would be $17*10^28$ free electrons per cubic meter. Which gives us about $11 eV$ of energy per free electron. If you want to cut the iron's density by a factor of say, ten, we have ten times higher electron density and an increase in energy of $10^2/3$, ca. $4.64$. So each free electron has an energy of about $51eV$ now. As said before, there's $17*10^28$ free electrons in a cubic meter of iron. Each of those has 40 additional electronvolts of energy now, which comes up to a total of $1.09 * 10^12 J$ of energy, or $260 t$ of TNT equivalent. Yep, a block of metal is practically a small nuke. Formidable indeed if your mutant can also spontaneously decompress metal.
To answer 1): The density in a White Dwarf is a hundred thousand times larger than iron, but the nuclei still stay intact in the degenerate electron gas. Iron will stay iron even for a very high compression.2): Yes, I see nothing that would indicate otherwise. It's just very dense.3): Realistically it'd be a white hot nugget of extremely high temperature, see math above. Having it be stable requires handwaving. It makes intuitive sense that extreme density would also result in an increase in durability though, there's simply more mass to move out of the way if someone wants to punch a hole into it. Another cool property you could give these metals is superconductivity. Highly compressed hydrogen is theorized to turn into a superconducting metal for example, so it's not a farfetched idea to apply that here too. There's all kinds of cool stuff coming with that, like levitating in magnetic fields.
If your weapons are made of a pure metal there shouldn't be much issue I would suspect, but if you have some form of contaminant I would imagine it would work like squeezing water of out of a sponge, the carbon for example leaking out of the metal because it needs to make room for the lattice of the metal atoms that are squeezed together by the power. Or you follow the astronomers interpretation of metal and that's basically everything is a metal that's not hydrogen and helium. But even then the mixing of materials could pose problems due to different atomic sizes when compressed that hard to reduce size.
Assuming the magic applies uniform pressure causing the metals to shrink the metals could "bounce" out like a spring when it's uncompressed too fast. Your mutant will need patience in order to prevent growing damage when expanding.
The density of the air does have an impact on the speed of an object falling through highly compressed air. As the air becomes more compressed, it becomes denser and creates more resistance against the object, causing it to fall at a slower rate.
Yes, the shape of the object can greatly impact its motion through highly compressed air. Objects with a more streamlined shape will experience less air resistance and therefore fall at a faster rate compared to objects with a larger surface area, which will experience more resistance and fall at a slower rate.
The temperature of the air does not have a significant impact on the object's fall through highly compressed air. However, colder air is generally denser and may slightly slow down the object's fall compared to warmer air.
Terminal velocity is reached when the force of air resistance equals the force of gravity acting on the object. As an object falls through highly compressed air, the air resistance increases until it balances with the force of gravity, causing the object to stop accelerating and reach a constant speed.
In highly compressed air, the object will fall at a slower rate and will take longer to reach the ground compared to normal air. This is because the denser air creates more resistance, which slows down the object's descent.
Are you looking to choose the best material for a compressed air system pipe? There are many choices for compressed air piping materials. The choice of piping material is a decision that must be made between performance, cost, and aesthetics. Below are the pros and cons of each of these materials.
Plastic compressed air pipe is lightweight, non-corrosive, and easy to install. Plastics come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Plastic piping should be durable enough to withstand years of use. It also needs to resist oils and lubricants that can damage it from the compressed air system. You must ensure that any plastic piping used in compressed air systems is OSHA-approved. OSHA stands for Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Plastic pipes get brittle over time and can crack, break, or even shatter.
PVC and CPVC: These pipes are not OSHA approved forcompressed air systems. PVC and CPVC can be very cost-effective and are easy to use. They are very popular in plumbing and other applications due to these characteristics.OSHA has now banned the use of CPVC and PVC piping in compressed air systems.
Since long, black iron piping has been a standard in compressed air delivery. Black metal piping can be found in older installations. It is strong and durable so it can withstand a lot of abuse. These pipes are made using traditional welding and threading techniques. They can be installed by any plumber who has the appropriate fittings from their local hardware store.
Galvanized steel pipes have many of the same benefits and drawbacks as their black iron counterparts, but one important exception is that galvanization greatly reduces the risk of corrosion. This makes it a popular choice in compressed air systems.
Stainless steel is the most durable and resistant to corrosion of all the steel and iron pipe alternatives. Stainless steel piping is not susceptible to corrosion like galvanized or black iron piping. This makes it an excellent choice for applications that require the removal of particulates and rust from the airstream. It looks amazing too.
Stainless steel can be difficult to cut and work with. This makes it a challenging material that requires skilled installers who have the right tools and training. It is as heavy as iron and can also leak around joints and welds. It is not a common choice for compressed air system pipes because of its high price and few of these disadvantages.
dd2b598166