On Tue, 13 Feb 1996, Len Bugel wrote:
> this is really _fun_!) put a small amount of water in an empty aluminum
> beverage can, and boil the water for a while on your kitchen range. The
> water vapor will essentially drive all the air out of the can, leaving
> only water vapor in there. Now (Here's the fun part) pick up the can with
> some sort of tongs or a hot pot holder and quickly invert it into a pan
> of cold water, so that the open top is submerged. The water vapor will
> quickly condense back to a liquid, leaving a pretty good vacuum inside
> the can - but not for long! The outside air pressure almost instantly
> crushes the can. Try it, you'll like it! Use about half an inch of water
Len
Not that I am a doubting Thomas, but I would think the falling pressure
in the can would simply draw water from the sink into the can. I would
have been willing to bet money that not much would happen. Have you
actually tried this?
Ray
Ray Gibbons Dept. of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics
Univ. of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT
gibbons@northpole.med.uvm.edu (802) 656-8910
|