The Titanic

I have a younger brother who is four years younger than me. He is interested in a variety of subjects, one of which being the sinking of the Titanic. I found this really interesting as well, as I am also a fan of the 1997 cinematic masterpiece: Titanic, directed by James Cameron. At 2:20am on April 15, 1912, the Titanic ship sank. Carrying 2,200 passengers and crew mates aboard, this massive ship hit an iceberg sitting just 100 feet above sea level. Just recently we were on a long car ride and had endless hours to pass when we stumbled across a podcast called: Materialism: A Materials Science Podcast, hosted by Taylor Sparks and Andrew Falkowski. Episode 42, What Really Sunk the Titanic?, goes further into detail about the reasons behind the ship’s sinking, which, of course, is something I was curious about learning.

The Metals

In 1912, metal had higher concentrations of certain elements than it does today, in 2022. When the Titanic was being built, the metal used had a higher concentration of sulfur, whereas today’s metal has a higher concentration of manganese (Falkowski and Sparks). This affects the brittle/ductile point of the metal. Brittle shows how breakable something is, and ductile shows its ability to bend. Today’s metals have a much lower point at which something goes from brittle to ductile because of the concentration of manganese. Manganese increases the ductility of metals, suggesting with less manganese, like the metals from 1912, the more brittle it is. This shows how if the metal of the Titanic had more manganese, it would have had a higher chance of withstanding the iceberg. If there was less sulfur, the Titanic would not have sunken, and so many lives would not have been lost. With that being said, we would not have the privilege of watching Cameron’s sensational film: Titanic. 

SOurce

Falkowski and Sparks, Andrew and Taylor. “What Really Sunk the Titanic?” Materialism: A Materials Science Podcast, Episode 42, 18 June 2021, materialismpodcast.com.