A Physics Party Trick that Sucks [Liquid]

[ELTURBOMAN]

what if you smoke crack????

[pink94angel]

is that a chic or a gay man?

[GUYANESEGT]

i tried this with pure ethanol.... didn't work either lol

[TheNoobCS]

fuck u waste my entire time u nerd

[kingt34]

I loled so hard at "The oxygen DIES!" idk why i just found it soo funny because you were really scientific until that point xD

[orangeman10987]

you said any liquid, i tried it with gasoline and it didn't work out too well.. =(

[blesstheawesomeness]

hahahahahahahahaha

[kingt34]

ROFL

[Kracr123]

I like setting people on fire...

[elbocho19]

bow get a bottle, boil an egg, burn a piece of paper, put it inside the bottle and put the the egg on top of the bottle right away . i did that in my physics class when i was 16. you all should try it.

[Berdalaire]

Hey I just made a video and uploaded it with the exact trick. Search "Fire Suction" and click the second one that was uploaded by 'Berdalaire' (me). :)

[se7en1976]

I can suggest a different type of suction for you :)

[mouser58907]

Where does the oxygen go? Conservation of mass/energy means it should still be there in some form right? Does it turn into heat energy?

[smarterthanthat]

There are 2 things at work here:

1. Combustion of the candle transforms the Oxygen molecules to H2O and CO2, which means there is less gas in the glass, and less pressure.

2. The candle heats the air BEFORE the glass is sealed by the water. When the oxygen runs out (from the chem reaction) and the candle burns out, the air cools, contracts, and creates pressure inside the cup.

Which one of these is the stronger reaction, I am not sure. If anyone has any ideas on how to test, drop me a word!

[ajgrovery]

rather then a candle just use a heating coil and see if you get the same result when no actual combustion is taking place

[MAnGaThaBOy]

@smarterthanthat i can use any liquid i want? how about gasoline? xD

[mattymuck]

@smarterthanthat But if the temperature inside the glass increases, it doesn't matter if the pressure starts to drop after the candle burns out because it will still be of a higher pressure than the surrounding atmosphere. I think the rate of the liquid coming in is proportional to the rate of cooling. So that the heat opposes the vacuum effects of combustion and as it starts to cool, combustion effects win and a vacuum starts to form. Maybe thats what you were saying in your last post though.

[Mriknowimfresh]

@smarterthanthat who caressssssssss

[boxcuttermarshel]

the fire oxidizes the candle

[hershorn]

actually, there really is no "suction" occurring..since the flame used up most of the oxygen inside the cup, there is no air pushing down on the liquid, but there is still a lot of air outside the cup pushing down on the liquid..so the air pushes down on the liquid and then the liquid gets pushed up the glass.

[giulio123]

out of curiosity wat are you i love your accent!!

[Surya2599]

She got big tits!

[mtanti87]

You really should state in your description that it's not really because of oxygen, just like Shane's the video response says.

[KaaSerpent]

Yay, synchronicity. We did this experiment back when I was in the second grade (way longer ago than I care to think about), and I was just thinking about it a couple of days ago.

And now I run across this. :)

[beanisoner]

my friend tried this with vodka.

hes dead now.

[amp1023]

You talk like a fuck

[pinknabab0y]

FUKKY NERDIE

[XxXTHENIGHTWOLFXxX]

hmmm a flat plate no shit .... hmm i dunno man ... i dont think i can find any

"FLAT" plates around my house .. cuc you know how i live in fucked up phisics world ... lololol

[mooeypoo]

I take it you've never seen a bowl.

[nikidizzi2]

hahaha!

[chickinfinger11]

will beer work ?

[mooeypoo]

I don't think it will because it has bubbles -- but you're welcome to try (and film it.. ;)

[patternsandstatic]

Nothing sucks, it only blows!

[canadian678]

HOLY COW THATS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!

[bfosque]

The reason the milk rises is because of the temperature changes, not oxygen. PV=nRT, thus when the temperature drops after the candle goes out, the pressure inside the glass falls, causing the greater pressure of the air outside the glass to push the liquid up. It has nothing to do with the loss of oxygen, because, as someone mentioned before, it is simply replaced by CO2.

[smarterthanthat]

bfosque, you're right, and the equasion, indeed, holds true. But what I am not too sure about (there are corrections to the vid in the site, btw) is whether the milk/water rise because of temperature *OR* because of the volume change. After the chem reaction of the fire, there might be less pressure in the cup because some of the CO2 is now condensed H2O (lowered moles in the volume of the glass). Which is it - temp or chem reaction? not sure :)

If you have ideas to check this, let me know!

[AmpRebel1]

Thats awesome. Ill have to try that at later

[cjunk351]

Can you please do the party trick of lighting your farts. that would be good fun dont ya think?

Good vid

[prototype9000]

why does everyhting have to be a party setting what about a church trick or barnyard one

[agentorange20]

Mr. Wizard, eat your heart out!

[dlite922]

Matter cannot be destroyed or "eliminated", Oxygen molecules cannot be "eliminated", they are "replaced".

Reason this happens is after the fire goes out, the air (O or CO2) cools, contracts, this contractions is what doing the sucking.

At least we learned something eh?

[lovasip]

You claim that there is practically vacuum in the glass.

Since the majority of air is inert gas like nitrogen, and oxigen simply turns into carbon-dioxide it is certainly wrong.

Check my comment on shane's video for an other explanation!

[smarterthanthat]

You are correct, I was wrong. I have changed most of the post already, and working on finding out a bit more about this. It seems like it wasn't just the heat/cooling of the oxygen either.. something else is happening here, and I'm going to figure out what! :)

Thanks for the correction.

[CKG333]

Woah...that's cool!

[ArcaneKarma]

I'm not criticizing; I just want to point out that the liquid is being pushed by the higher presser outside the glass. The liquid takes the path of least resistance, which is the low presser environment inside the glass. It's not actually being sucked into the glass; It's being pushed into it.

[ArcaneKarma]

I just noticed that shanedk made that point in his video. :P

[smaakjeks]

"It's not actually being sucked into the glass; It's being pushed into it."

Yeah, it's counter intuitive since we're used to there being 1 atm. of pressure around us.

[smarterthanthat]

I'm actually making some research to correctly explain what's happening in this experiment. There's a debate going on, and after a few checking-arounds - it seems to be a bit more complicated than I (and others) have thought.

So... expect a follow up video :)

[SlyerNZ]

Science is win!

[TomSFox]

Marry me!!!

[sheepwshotguns]

★★★★★

im going to go hunt around my house for a real long tube. more oxygen, more rise. =D

[smarterthanthat]

...you're right, I didn't think it would be .. in question... even.. but-- yes. I will add that :) Thanks

[msginca]

I love your videos ... and I'm jealous of any guy who has you as his girlfriend.

[farvision]

Any liquid?  Hmm, gasoline ...

[smarterthanthat]

Notice corrections in the post, please -- I accidently sound as if the oxygen "vanishes" from the cup. That's not true; I posted a slight correction with an explanation. What is true is that the pressure inside the cup IS lower than outside, and that is what causes the "suction".

thanks to Shane Killian for the observation!

[CousinoMacul]

Doesn't the carbon dioxide displace the oxygen?

[smarterthanthat]

yes, yes yes, i only noticed I sound as if the molecules vanish AFTER I posted the video. Corrections have been posted on the video and on the web site. Sorry.

The principle, however, is still the same -- it's all about pressure differences.

Anyways, I'm only human. Thanks for the correction :)

[EditingRoom]

the ocygen turns to co2, but CO2's pressure is less than than of O2