Meltdown

Why does salt stay solid in a frying pan while methane boils at −162 °C? Spin one heat wheel and every glass chamber on the furnace gets the same temperature. Watch the giant ionic lattice of sodium chloride shake until its many strong bonds give way, see small molecules move away from each other still whole, because only the weak intermolecular forces are overcome, race bigger molecules to their boiling points, and light the bulb only when ions are free to move.