This post is based on a question I was posed in my "Introduction to Rocks and Minerals" class. Now, mind you, it isn't a serious question, but when I thought about how to answer it, I realized how completely wrong everybody has been about it. The revelation was so clear I half expected the planet to be destroyed to make way for a bypass. So, before that happens, I thought a blog post might be a great way to explain why. I'll start with the answer: Everyone is wrong about how people die when they fall into lava.
So, what was the question? This (slightly paraphrased): "In that scene from Return of the King
when Gollum falls into the pit of lava, would he have really just sunk into the lava like that?"
At first, it seemed like an easy question. Well, not so much easy as obvious: yes. However, ...
