Also, the pressure difference must be greater than the one the can is able to withstand. So in summary, a can will get crushed when the pressure outside is greater than the pressure inside of the can. Because of that, the pressure outside of the can became much greater than the pressure inside, and that pressure difference crushed the can.Īs the air leaves the can, it gets crushed by the air pressure from outside.

That cooling caused the water vapor in the can to condense, creating a partial vacuum. And since the water vapor molecules are much more spread out than the water molecules, they take more space and are forcing the molecules of air out from the can.Īnd when we put the can in the cold water, we suddenly cooled it. The process of boiling turned the water into vapor. So what happened to the can? Why did it get crushed? By heating up our can, we boiled the water inside it. Science Behind The Air Pressure Experiment You will instantly hear a loud pop and the can will crush because of the pressure difference.Turn the can upside down and sink it in the cold water container. Be careful, the can is very hot so use tongs to not get burned. Use the kitchen tongs to grab the can.Since the amount of water inside the can is small to hear water bubbling, you can tell that it is boiling when you notice steam coming out of the can. For this, you can use the stove or a heater. Heat the can until the water inside starts to boil.Prepare cold water in some container that is big enough to sink the can in it.Or you can add the same amount of water directly from the pipe if you are not demonstrating the experiment to other people. Here you can use a funnel and spoon to demonstrate the procedure. Put one or two tablespoons of water (around 15 milliliters) into the empty can.And for step-by-step instructions and explanations, continue reading further. If you’re interested in a video guide, you can watch the video at the beginning of the article. Instructions on doing the Can Crush Experiment But for demonstration purposes, it is good to show adding water in the can. We can just add water directly from the pipe so this is optional. The spoon and funnel will help us in adding a little bit of water inside of the can. We can use our kitchen stove to achieve our goal. For getting the water inside of the can boiling, we need a heater. We will need something to hold a hot can, and kitchen tongs are the best tool we can use for that. It doesn’t have to be ice cold, just regular cold water from the pipe will be enough. Put some cold water into a bowl or a basin. These aluminum cans can be easily obtained in any grocery store since many beverages come packed in cans. A standard soda can or beer can will do great for our experiment. Materials Needed for the Air Pressure ExperimentĪll we need is an empty Soda Can, Bowl with Water, Kitchen Tongs, and a Heater. The mercury rises when the atmospheric pressure is high. As the weight of the atmosphere changes, mercury in a glass tube rises or falls. The atmospheric pressure is measured using a barometer. Water molecules in the air, contained in the water vapor, weigh less than the oxygen (and other gas molecules) so as the air becomes more humid, it’s lighter and therefore the pressure is lower.Īt sea level, air pressure affecting our body is approximately 15 tons! But that pressure won’t crush us since there is also an inner pressure of equal size so they nullify each other. That is why at high altitudes, we can feel dizzy and sick due to the lack of oxygen.īesides altitude, the amount of humidity is an important influence on air pressure. The higher we go, the lower the pressure and amount of oxygen. The amount of oxygen in the air also decreases with the pressure decreasing. As the altitude increases, the atmospheric pressure drops. The pressure is highest at sea level, where there is the highest density of those air molecules. In humid air, the pressure is lower than when the air is dry.

Workdone with differenet pressure