So we all know that you can get metal hot enough to melt and fold or be hammered into meter-long double-edged claymores but can you actually burn it?
You probably know metals from their most familiar forms a gold ring, a fireplace poker, a soda pop can but metals are actually a pretty diverse group.
In fact, they make up most of the elements in the periodic table.
Metals are generally defined by the physical traits we associate with them they're hard but malleable, meaning they can be hammered into thin sheets, but they're also ductile or can be pulled into wires.
But probably their most important and well-known property is that they're awesome conductors of heat and electricity.
They're also generally gray and shiny.
And the reason they're so good at conducting electricity is basically the same reason that some of them can burn.
Atoms in most metals tend to give up electrons really easily, so when heat or electricity run through a piece of metal that's basically a stream of excited electrons.
And when they burn metals are giving up some of their electrons.
But the process doesn't always look like you might imagine.
