I was watching a show on Discovery Channel called "Modern Marvels" - this one was about "acids." Every time I here about acids, I have a couple of vivid flashbacks...
When I was in high school, we did this chemistry experiment with acid and galvanize steel. We had to figure out the thickness/amount of zinc on the steel by weighing it before and after an acid bath.
So we weighed our piece, dropped it in the beaker full of acid. The thing boiled and boiled, bubbled like crazy. A little while later, the bubbling receded - reduced to a small bubble or two every now and then.
I asked the teacher was it finished, and he came over. He looked at it, then stuck his finger in and stirred it.
I nearly fell off my stool when he did that! Then he told me that the acid wasn't that strong. YEAH RIGHT! I just saw what it did to the STEEL!