There is a box with a highly explosive bomb inside it. The lid of the box is made of glass and attached to this lid is a bowl of mercury with a dozen exposed wire leads just out of the reach of the mercury. You know that any attempt to remove the lid or cut through it would move the mercury enough to trip the bomb. How do you safely disarm this booby trap to disengage the bomb?
Answer
By heating the steel box and raising the temperature inside, the mercury, which has a relatively low evaporation point, will disappear making it safe to lift the lid. Just be careful not to inhale any of the fumes.
