dsi1 wrote:
>
> Mark Thorson wrote:
> > dsi1 wrote:
> >> That might be a good idea, I was thinking of this myself. There's
> >> a possibility that the pan would spring back to it's concave shape
> >> when heated. You might have to use heat and pressure for a more
> >> permanent fix but that's just my ignorant guess. :-)
> >
> > Either way, it's metallurgically toast.
> > At least one interface between layers of
> > different metals has delaminated. With
> > that gap between layers, heat transfer
> > will be seriously impared.
>
> Thanks for the info. I've delaminated several pans myself. :-)

This reminds me of my idea for an idiot-proof pan
to prevent kitchen fires. It would be hollow,
with heat-conducting columns between the surface
in contact with the stovetop and the food cooking
surface.

The columns would be magnetic particles, like iron
filings held in place by magnets. If you left the
pan on a hot stovetop and all the water cooked away,
the remaining contents would not get hot enough to
catch fire, because as the pan heated up past the
Curie point of the particles, the magnetic properties
would disappear and the columns would break down,
cutting off heat transfer from the first surface
to the second surface.

Problems with this invention are that the Curie
points of most reasonable materials for the particles
are way above the safe temperature for cutoff.
There would need to be an ultra-low Curie point
material.

Even if that problem were solved, there's another
problem which is the real killer. If you grow up
in a household that uses the safety pan, you won't
grow up with awareness of the danger. You'll get
used to putting a pan on the stovetop, turning it
to high, and walking away or taking a phone call.
When the kids of this household grow up and go to
college or something, if they live in a house with
roomates or even living alone without safety pans,
they'll be dangerous. They won't practice stovetop
safety.

Sort of like my idea for the safety knife, which
instantly becomes unsharp when it detects flow of
an electric current between the metal handle and the
blade. It assumes that the circuit is closed by the
blade touching the other hand (the one not holding
the handle). I had a couple ideas for how to convert
the blade edge from sharp to unsharp, but the mere
existence of the safety knife would be a safety
hazard, because it would train people to be unconcerned
about their knifework technique. People would just
cut aggressively right up to their fingertips, without
trying to avoid cutting them off. When one of these
people picks up a conventional knife, get the
bandages out.

I've heard that anti-lock brakes have had a similar
effect. People drive more aggressively when they
have anti-lock brakes, negating any safety benefit.