POP! DING! CRUNCH! …8th grade is exploring the realm of chemistry and in this demonstration, our scholars were amped to test some principles and phenomenons. This lab, known as the Can Crush, encompasses temperature, pressure, and phase changes. We learned that as particles heat up, they space out further and become more chaotic. This increase in particle speed can cause a phase change to occur, like a solid to liquid.

In this lab, we had aluminum cans which were filled with a centimeter of water. These aluminum cans were then placed on hot plates which would cause the liquid water to eventually boil. Now, when the liquid boils, the particles space out and turn into steam which will fill the can. Since the can is open on the top, some of the gas will escape. Next, the fun part, students took a tong and flipped the heated can upside down into a bowl of ice water. This drastic cooling causes the gases to condense in the can back into a liquid, but here’s the catch, since the gas turned into a liquid, there is no longer and pressure on the inside of the can pushing outwards. Due to their no longer being pressure inside the can, the atmospheric pressure will dramatically crush the can before our very eyes with a loud POP!

Students were ecstatic and wanted to conduct this experiment multiple times! In the end, the 8th grade scholars had a better grasp of how temperature and pressure can affect phase changes and particle motion.