# What's 'stronger': steel or water? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 10, 2001, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-stronger-steel-or-water/53868 "2001-02-10T02:38:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-stronger-steel-or-water/53868/21 "2001-02-11T01:48:51Z")
geobabe - if I had a billion or so years, and infinite steel blades, I think I could make a pretty good canyon. that doesn’t prove any point. ---
**Author:** ![Geobabe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/geobabe/32/3908_2.png) [@Geobabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geobabe)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-stronger-steel-or-water/53868/22 "2001-02-11T03:17:12Z")
**CC** , I’m just curious, out of all the tossed-off answers in this thread, why is mine the only one that seems to bother you? ---
**Author:** ![likearock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a4c791/32.png) [@likearock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/likearock)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2001, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-stronger-steel-or-water/53868/23 "2001-02-12T07:58:25Z")
Dr\_Paprika- Just what do you think they make signal mirrors out of? A: Steel. Since it won’t break like a glass mirror. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2001, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-stronger-steel-or-water/53868/24 "2001-02-13T03:03:52Z")
I was aware mirrors are made out of steel when I gave my answer. Just trying to be ironic and all. Like any of the other answers in this vague thread weren’t tossed off. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2001, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-stronger-steel-or-water/53868/25 "2001-02-13T03:06:32Z")
I was aware that signal mirrors are made out of steel. Was trying to be ironic, obviously not too well. That’s what I get for tossing off ana nswer (like everyone else in the thread). Still, it’s worth it if I get to give **CC** a steel blade and a million years to see what the lad can do. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2001, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-stronger-steel-or-water/53868/26 "2001-02-13T03:43:11Z")
I’d have thought that the answer was that water can destroy steel because steel would rust away in the presence of water, but steel cannot, to my knowledge, destroy water in any way. ---
**Author:** ![Phobos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Phobos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phobos)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2001, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-stronger-steel-or-water/53868/27 "2001-02-13T14:14:38Z")
It’s a dumb question because “stronger” is completely vague (stronger at what?). For that matter, so are “water” and “steel” because it does not indicate what state they are in (or if solid, what thickness, etc.). Solid steel will kick liquid/gaseous water’s ass at resisting a shear force. An ocean of water can toss around a steel ship like a speck of dust. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2001, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-stronger-steel-or-water/53868/28 "2001-02-13T20:15:45Z")
And water under pressure can rupture or crumple steel. But which would you rather make a bridge out of? The puzzle is one of those dumb mind puzzles that phrase things one way, and you take the normal simple definitions, and then the answer is to take obscure or odd or secondary definitions and thus reverse the answer. They’re just a way to pretend you’re smarter than the other guy, because he doesn’t realize you’re twisting the question. Let water = liquid water at 20 deg C. Let steel = solid metal Let stronger = able to support a load Steel is stronger. Change the defs above, and you change the answer. ---
**Author:** ![likearock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a4c791/32.png) [@likearock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/likearock)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2001, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-stronger-steel-or-water/53868/29 "2001-02-14T07:21:19Z")
Dr\_Paprika–Don’t take any offence. Iim sorry if I offended your intellegence. Just don’t ridicule my spelling… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-stronger-steel-or-water/53868.md?page=1)