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OK in a a king wanted a potion that would melt anything it touched and would hang any liars. A jester died trying to fool the king but now let's throw this out there ...

A REALLY smart alchemist does create such a potion and very carefully brings it to the king. The king again says, "hang him" but the alchemist says, "but it is true and you can test it". So the king, being the smart king he is, says, "break off a small piece of the container and drop it into the potion. The alchemist carefully breaks off a small chip of the container from the top lip, drops it in and sure enough it melts away.

So how did the alchemist do it, by it I mean contain this potion that melts everything away. Assume the potion really does melt everything away and that there is NO magic (except maybe the potion itself).

I have one answer but I'm sure I will hear lots of other possible answers ...

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Hm...

the magical potion, once it melted something, just became an inactive liquid? That way it would be something already "melted" coating the walls of the container, protecting them from the substance. However, when the piece is broken off and put in the middle of the material, it melts. Just a thought...

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The container had a inner lining which prevented the magic potion from coming into contact with the container material.

That lining is one of the things that the potion does not melt. (Like acid containers)

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The top of the container could be a material different from the part of the container that is in contact with the potion. However, in that case the potion would not really melt anything it touches and the alchemist would have had to guess in advance how the king would test its authenticity.

Edited by Tickle
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it does melt just about anything... however, not immediately. Perhaps the potion is actually melting its container, but due to its width it's taking a lot of time to consume it. In the other hand, when a small piece is put into the potion, it doesn't take much time to melt it.

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maybe the substance is not only capable of melting everything it touches, but also - magically? - has a magnetic field. The magnetic field of the container is the same as the substance and therefore repels the liquid and it never quit touches the side!

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The riddle states that the potion melts anything it touches, not dissolves. The inside of the container is coated with a viscous sticky liquid (oil? mucous?) with which the potion is not miscible. Since it is already a liquid, the potion has no melting effect upon it.

Edited by eel_electric
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if there are two liquids in the container

the one that melts everything and another that is a buffer between the container and the first liquid. since the 2nd liquid is already melted (it is a liquid after all) it can't melt again. It has some properties that makes it stay between the container and the first liquid. but if you drop something in and place it carefully enough it will melt before the 2nd liquid can buffer it.

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Perhaps at room temperature, the portion is an inert solid that can be moulded into an insulating container. When heated the potion return to its liquid state where it dissolves everything.

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cazz, I like your creativity, but then when you drop the piece of the container in, its magnetism would repel the potion and never melt but rather fall right through.

not neccessarily.... once the piece was broken off, it would not be held with the side that had the same manetic pull as the liquid facing the liquid, therefore the opposite side could flip round and actually be attracted to the liquid....

Sorry my descrpiton of physics is a bit rusty.... shcool was many years ago and I'm not sure how much attention I paid!!

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If the alchemist had this magic potion, it would most likely be made up of many ingredients. Therefore, you could keep two solutions that, when mixed, give the magic potion. So, when he dropped it in, the two solutions were mixed and a tiny bit squirted out to melt the bit of the container.

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