The Impracticality of Mounting a Flamethrower to the Front of a Car to Melt Snow While Driving

The Impracticality of Mounting a Flamethrower to the Front of a Car to Melt Snow While Driving

As part of their ongoing “What If?” series, Randall Munroe of xkcd and Henry Reich of MinutePhysics answered a viewer’s question regarding the best way to melt snow while driving, either by mounting a flamethrower or a high powered microwave emitter to the front of the car. It turns out that the flamethrower is the better idea, however, the amount of energy and gas that it would burn would not be worth doing so. No matter how big the tank on yo…

Would a Flamethrower Make a Good Snowblower?

May is as good a time as any to think about the problem of snow removal. The question came in to the guys of the What If? series (previously at Neatorama) about using a flamethrower to melt snow. Or would a microwave be better? This person was imagining putting either on the front of a car to melt the snow in front of you. If they had asked me, I would remind them that melted snow is water, water will soon turn to ice in a cold environment, and …