Liquid metal embrittlement

Liquid metal embrittlement is a big word that means when a metal becomes weak and breaks easily when it comes into contact with certain liquids. Think of it like a Lego tower that is really strong when it's just made of Legos, but if you add water to the tower, it becomes weak and falls apart easily.

When certain metals come into contact with liquids like mercury, zinc, and cadmium, they can become very weak and break easily. This is because the liquid can react with the metal and make it weaker. It's like adding water to the Lego tower, but instead of just becoming weak, the metal can break apart completely.

This can be a big problem in things like pipelines and machines, where the metal needs to be strong to do its job. People who work with these things have to be very careful to make sure that they're not using a metal that can be weakened by liquid metal embrittlement.

So in short, liquid metal embrittlement is when a metal becomes weak and breaks easily when it comes into contact with certain liquids.