Miso Soup

Abashiri Prison in Japan where a prisoner named Yoshie Shiratori was able to escape for the first time in its entire history. Guess how?

He used “Miso Soup” (traditional Japanese soup) to escape from prison! Strange right?

Every morning he split his breakfast of “Miso soup” at his cell especially at the food tray slot in the door and even his handcuff. Due to accelerating rusting, it was able to weaken the metal screw and bolts. To know about the incident, you can also visit the link below:

Link: https://youtu.be/HG2GPqPJ13A

Let me illustrate the incident more deeply. Miso soup contains a high concentration of salt. Water with salt can accelerate the rusting activity. How saltwater accelerates the rusting?

Salt actually plays a role like a catalyst. Rusting is an electrochemical process. So, whenever salt is added in the water, the mobility of the ions increases as well as conductivity. Conductivity depends on the charge of ions, size, and mobility. With respect to NaCl, Na ion is smaller in size compared to Cl ion. Consequently, Na ion has greater migration than Cl ion and in turn, conductivity. Hence, the difference in electrochemical potential occurs on the surface because anodic and cathodic regions are developed with the help of electrolyte (salt solution). That’s why pure water is less efficient rather than saltwater.

Rusting is even highlighted in the famous “Megadeth” band. (Though I am not a huge fan of heavy metal). Their words look like this, “May all nuclear weapons rust in peace."