crushing cans the cool way

Hey, so one night my buddy and I where board and thought I would be cool to crush some cans using the power of steam. Really some thermodynamics is at work here and I am sure all the science and engineering types (such as myself) can figure out what's going on. For the rest, here is a brief explanation: Some regular water was put in the can and then heated. We would wait until almost all the water was boiled off so that there was just steam left in the can. Then the can is turn upside down and stuck into cold water. By sticking the can upside down we have prevented anything form entering the can (except water that will get sucked up from the bowl below). When the can hits the water the steam inside cools almost instantaneously. As it cool the steam condenses and contracts. This contraction creates a vacuum inside the can which want to suck up the water in the bowl. Because the vacuum is created so fast, water can not be sucked up fast enough and as a result the aluminium can itself experience a significant amount of stress on its structure due to the vacuum. The stresses on the can are too great and as a result the can is crushed.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• crush
• can

[cardcutter]

how is this related ot the first law exactly wouldent it be more with pressure and im not being a dick i just wanna know to see if i can use it for a demo

[glerkin]

The first law states energy can not be created or destroyed. The steam possess a significant amount of heat energy. When the can is placed in water the steam condenses, and looses the heat energy it previously had. But, where did the energy go? The energy was transfered into "work done", that is the can was crushed.

[shailensobhee]

interesting..lol

[AnEffingSkater]

hahahaha i love you voice. "that is sweet"!

[mcjcuk]

Pretty cool... But i really cant be arsed to try it myself.. Takes too long! lol

[ddf0123]

lol "Oh physics..."