Discrepant Event

Can Crush Experiment

Newton’s Second Law- Unbalanced Forces

Materials Needed:
● Cans
● Tongs
● Cold Water
● Burner

Time Required: half and hour to an hour (If recording it with a 5th and 3rd grader, it
could take 4 hours.)

Summary:
When the water in the can is heated, the molecular structure of the water
changes as it is transformed into steam. When the can is placed into the cold
water, the steam condenses creating a vacuum, and the can implodes.

Misconceptions:

Our misconceptions were that this experiment would give an amazing experience as
we have seen on other videos. Unfortunately, we were unable to create an impact.
We aren’t sure why...maybe it was the angle of the can, temperature or amount of
water in the can or bowl. We don’t know. We tried it around 10 times.

List of questions:

● Should we have used freezing cold water?

● Should we have boiled the water longer?
● Did we use the wrong kind of cans?

Bibliography:

http://www.csun.edu/scied/4-discrpeant-event/the_can_crush/index.htm