Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Crushing Cans with Air

This is what I do. Here's the procedure:


  • Place 8-10 ml of water in an empty pop can.

  • Place the pop can onto the heat source and wait for the water to boil. After you see steam escape, continue to boil for one minute.

  • Use the tongs to remove the can from the heat. Quickly turn it upside-down and place it into a saucer with water (which was close-by).

In your blog response, explain what happened in this experiment step-by-step. Justify the result that you saw? What happened inside the can as it was being heated up? What does the air do? How about when it was placed in the water? Why was it crushed? Did a ghost do it?

After completing these questions in your comment, check out some "Pressure" flash cards on Ediscio, or look at the following pressure websites. Otto von Guericke makes a vacuum Toricelli's Barometer video Air Pressure Balloon Animation Storm System Animation

72 comments:

Ryan B. said...

The water in the can was boilling and as he put the can upside down in the water the water vapor had no where to go, so the air pressure was to high it crushed the can.

Emily S. said...

When the air inside the can heated up and it was placed in cold water, the difference in temperature/pressure caused the can to implode.

kyle Y said...

the can went boom from airpressure

walker duehr said...

when the water was boiling water vapor was created in the coke can. And placeing the can in the water crushed the can due to air pressure neither air could get in or go out therfore crushing the can.

Caitlin Jeffcoat said...

The Cans like crushed because when water is heated there's not really water in there any more just like random water vapor particles and what not so when it was put into the the cold water the vapor had to bond but there was more pressure on the outside than the in and it Callapsed.

Nick Leat said...

When the can was heated up the water was evaporating and when it was put into the water the can was crushed. The air was trying to escape and with nowhere for the air to go the air pressure got to it and crushed it.

Riley F said...

The air pressure was strong enough to crush the can from the outside in. I really have no idea how the water vapor got it to do that though... It was weird but very cool. -Riley Fullerton

Jordan St said...

The can had water then that water evaporated, then after that we put the can upside down in a container full of water.

Tyler Byers said...

First you boiled water inside the can. then you put the top of the can in water. then the can shrunk. it evaporated the water and there wasnt much air left inside so when you had it cool it took up less space and created a vaccum which sucked the air out and crushed the can. no a ghost did not crush the can.

gabe g said...

In the Lab the hot can went through the evaporation process and it reacted to the hot can in the cold water and it contracted leaving a smashed can.

Allison W. said...

When the warm air inside the can comibined with the cold water it made the can implode because of all the high pressure.

Makiah S. said...

The water got heated up by the stove thing and when the water got heated up it evaporated into water vapor then when heat was turned off it was placed into the cold water and since cold water has a lot of air pressure the can crinkled up.

Cierra Von Bergen Period 3 said...

Well the first one was the can with water in it over the heater. The water boiled and then he filped it over. Then all the air pressure that was in it crushed it!

Mariah said...

The water in the can heated up for 1 minute untill it created a boil. So now Mr.Hoegh moved the can over to the cold water causing the air in the can to be trapped and have no where to go causing the can to collapse.As the can heated up the air pressure decrease then it went to a high pressure area where the two pressures collided making a crinkled can.

Robert Weaver said...

casper made the can crush

Alyssa W said...

Air couldn't get into the can so the air pressure outside the can was higher, making the can shrink

Jamie spicer said...

I believe that the air couldnt get through the can so the pressure outsid of the can so it shrinks until air gets in.

Steven E said...

The air was looking for a way to escape so it created a vaccum effect.

JOEY said...

JOEY
the air in the can was hot and so the air cannot escape from the can

Anonymous said...

The can shrunk/crushed because the air pressure outside of the can was greater than the air pressure inside the can causing the can to suck itself in so that the pressure between the outside of the can and the inside of the can became equal. Oh and it was very warm on the inside and once it went into the cold water the can cooled really like fast too!

Taylor Hambrick said...

The col water reacted with the cold water in the can and since cold water is more dense, it cruses the warm air molecules from the boiled water.

Jayme D said...

I think that the can was crushed because of air pressure.(:

GavinB said...

The heated air is trying to distribute like earth with wind and the can equals out the cool with the warm i think....

Ashlyn Wieczorek said...

The heat in the can created something like a seal when the air was evaporated. And when it hit the cold water it condenses. The water vapor pushed everything out and it just like exploded!

jessicafis said...

as the can heated up, the water evaporated and in turn, when put in an enviroment with no air, it crushes in on itself

Jamie spicer said...

The air pressure outside of the can is greater so the can shrinks to get air inside.

Jessica Schnetzer said...

I think that the can was crushed by the water because the cold water in the beaker was much more dense than the warm water in the soda can. The pressure forces the can to crush.

Tanner M said...

Water Vapor takes up less space Than water so when it ttouches the cold water it turns to liquid and therefor the can is crush

Anonymous said...

well... when the water was heated, it created a certain low pressure. then, it was placed in the ice water, where it cooled rapidly, and the high pressure crushed it.

Kristina G said...

as the can heated up the water evaporated and became water vapor, which takes up more space than water. when mr. hoegh covered it with the water, the vapor had no way to escape so the can compressed until the can cracked.

Matt said...

It happened because the cold air cut off air support for the warm air. The warm air provided the shape of the can, and the cold air really didn't. The warm air left the can, and the cold air provided no shape for the can.

Neil Leyda said...

The air pressure in the can became aloot less then the pressure out side. then in an effort to ezualize the can collapsed tto make the pressures.

Matt said...

The warm air was trapped by the cold air, and the warm air left. The warm air provided shape for the can, but the cold air provided no shape. So, once the warm air left, the can collapsed.

Sean P said...

The reason the can was crushed was because the hot water and the water vapor pushes the air out of the can and when you put it in the cold water and create the seal, the water vapor condeses and then there is less space the water takes up. Then the remaining air that is left is the only thing in the can so it crushes down to the size of the remaining air

Cole schroedermeier said...

The hot water and the water vapor pushed all the air out of the can and ther was a boom

Matt Fossell said...

The warm air provided shape for the can, and once it left, the can collapsed. The warm air provides shape, and the cold air doesn't. The warm air left, and the can collapsed.

Hannah H. said...

When the pop can warm from cold to warm, it caused a pressure change. This made the can shrink.

Tevin s said...

The Water Heated Up and expanded the air making the can

Andee C said...

The can was crushed by the air because there was hot air in it and then when u sealed it off the hot air rose and than the cool air sunk causing the can to indent.

aditya kalia said...

the air trying to got outside the can and when it turns upside down air quickly came out causing the can to crush

Nick R. said...

The air condensates and turns back into water and since air takes up more space then a liquid the can's walls are sucked together.

Cole H said...

i think due to the diffrences of pressure because he heated it up it caused the high pressure to go to the low pressure which crushed the can

Mark Stromseth said...

We pput water in the can and waited for it to steam then put it in the water and on the rubber/wooden thing and made a seal that trapped the steam and that pressure crushed the can.

Louis Earls said...

thas was so cool

i think that it was cased from airbeing sucked in but the seel restricted it.

like when your warm body jumps in cold water and you suck in a lot of air that is what happend to the can.

with the rubber the same thing happend just slower.

morgan k said...

First, we put water into an empty can of pop. we heated the can and put in into water and a seal and both times the can became crushed because of the pressure.

Zaccheaus C said...

We heated it up and then we put it in water and it gets sucked up. Then the can crushes. The water was being heated up. Makes it be sucked. It got crushed. No a ghost did not do it.

Brady Kafka said...

I think that when he just put it in the water, the cold water in the glass quickly rushed into the hot water inside, and the warm air quickly rose out of the can. When it went more slowly, only little amount of hot air left at a time, making the crushing more slowly.

aditya kalia said...

the pressure in the can through the heating caused air pressure causing it to imbalance and get crushed

Matt Kirky said...

the different densinty of the hot and cold air

Sarah (Rahh-Rahh) Lund said...

I had seen the pop can lose air by the pressure it was given. It was caused by the cold water.
Molecules move faster that it would normally would.

Rylee S said...

I saw that the popcan had scrunched up, i'm not sure how though.... the molecules move faster inside the can?
The air moves way faster then it normally would....
when it was placed in the water it had like this explosion type noise, and then it scrunched up...
hehehehe, a ghost didn't do it though :) pretty cool huh.

Brady Kafka said...

When the can was placed in the glass, the water vapor rose out of the bottle, and the condensed water takes up less room, so it sucked up greater. When only a little air was released at a time, the crushing happened more slowly.

Ethan C said...

The can got crushed because of the heat and low air pressure in the can and the cold high air pressure rushed in and caused it to crush. Also in the one where the filter was there it stopped the cold air from entering the can. Which caused it to slowly crumple.

Katelyn C said...

Mr. Hoegh put a pop can with a little bit of water in it, on a burner and when it started steaming he waited a minute, and then picked it up and put it into cold water and it crushed by itself really fast. The reason of this is because the water added pressure and it got skinny. (I'm glad thats not some sort of way to get skinny like "Weight watchers" or excersizing.

Maddy S said...

The water originally put in the can was heated up, causing it to evaporate. Now there isnt many molecules of air in the can. So when you put it in the water, cutting off the air flow, there is now very little molecules at all in the can. Also the water vapor turned back into water. Causing the can to shrink. yeah...

Grace G. said...

hot air started evaporating and the water vapor pushed out all of the air molecules and by the time we were done waiting there wasnt much left in the can and when we put it in cold water the top was plugged and the high pressure from outside of the can wanted to get to the low pressure inside the can and boom bam cuzam smooshed can (:

Malia L said...

The cold air in the can reacted with the hot air. The water in the can boiled and the gas escaped through the opening in the can. The water vapor pushed out all the air. There wasn't much pressure in the can at that point. But there was tons of pressure outside of the can once it was placed in the water, and the can crushed. The pressure from the outside of the can wanted to get into the can, where there wasn't much pressure. So, the can was crushed by pressure.

Anonymous said...

We heated it up and since warm air rises it escaped and is turning into water vapor which is taking up a bunch of space. So The water Vapor started pushing all the air out of the can and even the water vapor was escaping from the can... Than we took it and put it in the cold water when we did that we didnt let anything in or out... So weve got a little bit of pressure inside the can pressure pressing out but it wasnt much.. But the pressure from the outside the can was trying to get to the low pressure so the can got crushed

Anonymous said...

the heat boiled the water out of the can and made the air less dence and when he puts it in the water it luts no air in it and the preser outside and crushed it!

taco master said...

the water started to heat up so the water became water vapor then the a minute pass then we fliped it but when the minute was continue the water vapor ecaped with the warm air so when we fliped it there was hardly any water vapor and air left in the can

Dylan B. said...

I think that the air is trying to escape while the water has more force and crushes the can and all at once all of the air comes out and then makes a big splash.

Caleb W said...

What happened to make the can crush was because the water vapor that was left in the can was replaced with cold air and the outside air pressure pushed onto the can which made it crush.

Taylor Wipf said...

water vapor takes up more space than water, so the water vapor hit the water and condenced and made a vacume, so it crushed the can

Sierra B said...

Dr.Hoegh filled a can with water, but just a little. He boiled it and then placed it in some cold water where no air could escape. The hot water vapor inside quickly condensed into water. Since only the air inside was left when it changed into water, it took up less space and the can crushed itself. The cold water sped the process up while room temperature slowed it down.

Dylan B. said...

I think that the air is trying to get out and then the water is stronger than the air so it pushes in on the can and crushes it. Then all of the air comes out at once and then makes a splash.

Hanna Juhnke said...

well when the can was on the burner it was heating up. and it was a very low denise. than it was put in cold water and the cold water went to the low desnies area and the can could not push back hard so it crunched

Hanna Juhnke

Bailey Z said...

Mr. Hoegh placed a can on top of a burner. While the water was heating up so was the can as well. After a minute he took a pair of tongs and flipped the can into a glass of cold water. The air pressure around the can made it collapse/crush. When the cold air and warm air meet it made the popping noise.

Jocie Behm said...

So there was a can that had 10 mL of water in the pop can, and Mr. Hoegh put it on a burner, then a minute later he took the can and dumped it into the tub of water. The air pressure around the can made the pop can collapse. Also the water vapor was condensed. When the cold air and warm air meets it came together to make the popping noise.

manny said...

In side the can all he are evaprated out. so the air outsisde of the can all triede to go inside of the can by going right through it and thats how it broke.

Josh G. said...

we put a small amount of water in a can and aplied heat to it. The water turned into water vapor and we quickly placed the can into water. The waper vaper inside the can cooled and condensated. The water vaper "shrunk" when it turned into water but water prevented air from getting into the can so it had to cave in on itself

Baylee K. said...

All the hot air (less dense air) escaped the can, therefore making very little pressure inside the can. So the outer pressure crushed the can.

Lexi W. said...

The hot air escaped the can, and it made
Iittle pressure outside of the can.

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