eli5: why does supergluing 2 metal pieces take minutes but only a millisecond for my fingers.
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Superglue is a brand name of [cyanoacrylate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanoacrylate) or CA glue, and it is a liquid that becomes a hard plastic when it gets wet. Two pieces of metal are not partially made of water like two pieces of skin are, so the only thing turning the CA hard is the humidity. That takes a lot longer, doesn’t penetrate as far, and the surface area isn’t as large (which is the second biggest thing after moisture content that quickens the process, which is why dots of CA glue is better than a single blob).
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