Science At Home - Self Crushing Can

Sometimes you need to crush an empty can, but it’s kind of boring just to stomp on it! Instead, put science to work for you and let the can crush itself!

What You Need

• Empty pop can

• Tongs

• Heat source (a candle will do)

• Pan or shallow tub of cold water

What you do

1. Fill a shallow pan or tub with water. There should be enough water to go part way up the pop can.

2. Add a small amount of water to the pop can.

3. Using the tongs, hold the pop can over the heat source, open side up. Hold it there, moving the pop can slowly from side to side until you see steam appear. You could also place the pop can on a stove burner or barbecue grill if you prefer.

4. Carefully and securely grasp the pop can with tongs and quickly invert it into the water. The opening of the pop or soda can should be submerged in the water.

5. Be prepared for the implosion! The can just crushed itself!

Explanation

By adding heat to the pop can with a bit of water, the water turns from a liquid into a gas. This gas is water vapor which pushes air inside the pop can out. When the can is turned over into the pan of water, the water creates an airtight seal.

The cold water cools the air inside the can and the pressure rapidly changes. The air outside the pop can can’t get in because the water in the dish is creates an airtight seal on the can.

As a result, the air pressure outside of the can is higher than the air inside the can. The can isn’t strong enough to resist - and the can collapses under the presser. This is called an implosion: something collapsing or squeezing into itself.

When you lift the crushed pop can up, you might notice it is filled with water. This water is pushed into the pop can as the pressure equalizes.

Taking it further

The physics of this demonstration are similar to the Water Lifting Candle demonstration. Why does the pop can implode, while the glass or jar do not?

Things to note

Be sure to have water in the pop can. The water is needed to create water vapor.

You may want to have oven mitts to hold the pop can.

Any time you are using a heat source, take extra safety measures.

Always wear safety glasses.

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SSC Interview: Outlaw Trail Spirits and Hooligan's Hand Wash Sanitizer

Ryan from the Science Centre talks with John Styles from Outlaw Trail Spirits about the science of distilling, pivoting a business, and how they're giving back to the community.

Learn more about the Saskatchewan Science Centre Fundraising Auction at: https://www.32auctions.com/sksc

ABOUT JOHN STYLES, P.Eng, FEC

John Styles is founder and president of Outlaw Trail Spirits Inc., a craft distillery based in Regina, and is President and CEO of Pilgrim Energy Inc., a private company engaged in business and finance consulting to the resource industry. He also serves as chair of the board and a director with Edge Liability and Resources Management., an oilfield abandonment and reclamation specialty contractor, and as a founding shareholder and former director of Horizon West Infrastructure Fund, a Saskatchewan-based infrastructure bank. He was also a director of Saskatchewan Band Association Inc., Auburn Energy Inc., and previously served as a sessional engineering instructor at the University of Regina from 2001 through 2016. John has over 35 years of experience in the resource industry. He founded and/or has served on the boards of a number of public companies, including Reece Energy from 2007 through to its acquisition by Penn West in 2009. John was CEO of Invictus Minerals Corporation, staking the 97,000 acre KP-289 "Legacy" potash exploration permit in 2005, and ultimately selling Invictus to Potash One (now K+S Canada) in 2008. Previously, he served in various engineering and business development roles with a number of domestic and international resource companies, having started his career with Gulf Canada in Edmonton in 1981.

John holds a Diploma of Technology from NAIT (now NAIT Polytechnic University) in 1981, and a Bachelor of Science (Honors) degree in Petroleum Engineering from Montana Tech (1987), and is licensed as a Professional Engineer in the Province of Saskatchewan, and has received the Fellow of Engineers Canada designation. John has been an active volunteer with APEGS, having served as Councillor for Group IV (2010-2013), currently serving as vice-chair of the Professional Edge Committee and as a member of the Licensee Admissions Committee, and previously as member, vice-chair and then chair of the Academic Review Committee, and as a member of the Experience Review and Nominations committees. He serves as presenter and/or case study leader for the APEGS Law & Ethics seminar and at professional development courses, focusing on resource industry issues. John previously served on the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board accreditation team as a General Visitor for the 2008 engineering program review at University of Saskatchewan. He has served as an industry adjudicator for the fourth-year capstone engineering project presentations by students at the University of Regina, and as a member of the PSE Industry Advisory Board. John currently serves as vice-president and director of the Prairie Craft Spirits Association, and previously served as secretary of the South Saskatchewan chapter of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, and previously served as chair and director of the South Saskatchewan section and director of the Petroleum Society of CIM.

John is the ultimate science geek, and this includes the intense study of wave propogation theory as expressed in brass tubulars....another way of saying that he plays trombone for fun, and has played with Queen City Brass Band and the Regina Winds.

ABOUT OUTLAW TRAIL SPIRITS DISTILLERY

Find more about Outlaw Trail Spirits at:

Facebook: Facebook.com/OutlawTrailSpirits

Instagram: @OutlawTrailSpirits

Twitter: @OutlawTrailSP

Outlaw Trail Spirits disitllery is located at 1360 Scarth Street, in the heart of the historic Regina Warehouse District, and is a small-batch producer of tasty beverage alcohol including whisky style grain spirits, rum style molasses spirits, vodkas and liqueurs. The business opened its doors in December 2016, and very quickly caught the attention of enthusiasts with a Best In Category for International Spirits medal for its Olde Foggy Bottom Single Malt in the 2018 American Distilling Institute craft spirits judging held in Portland, Oregon. As well, Outlaw Trail Spirits and its founders, John and Charmaine Styles, has been featured in Spirit expert Davin DeKergommeaux's new book, "The Definitive Guide To Canadian Distilleries", published in March 2020. In response to the overwhelming needs of the greater Regina community after the Covid-19 crisis, the business converted its manufacturing facility to produce ethanol-based hand sanitizer, and along with Mark Heise and the crew at Rebellion Brewing Co., and Leasa Gibbons and staff at the Regina Warehouse Business Improvement District, arranged for the donation of over $10,000 of hand sanitizer to first responders and vulnerable members of our community as a way of helping out and giving back to the community in a time of great need.

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Loving this content? Make a donation to the Saskatchewan Science Centre!

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SSCTV - Electrolysis and Rhino Horns

What a great new episode of SSCTV!

Jesse sets water on fire… and makes more water!

Tommy Tungsten is back with a great deal on another element - NITROGEN!

And Sally Science answers a question about rhinoceros horns!

Have a question for Sally Science? Send a video to rholota@sasksciencecentre.com

Use the Earth Challenge 2020 app to gather critical environmental data near you. Earth Challenge 2020 is the app fueling the world’s largest citizen science effort, available on Android and iOS devices. Learn more here.

Want your very own plush rhino? Or a different stuffed animal, or maybe a fun science kit to work on as a familty? Check out the Atom + Geek Science Shop - now with online sales!

#SaskScienceCentre #AtHomeWithCASC #ScienceChampions #ScienceAtHome #realsciencerealfun #seeyqr #exploresask #supportlocal #supportlocalyqr

Science At Home - Color Changing Milk

Color Changing Milk Demo

Explore bipolar molecules - those that are simultaneously hydrophobic AND hydrophilic!

What You Need

• Shallow dish

• Food coloring

• Milk

• Cotton Swabs

What You Do

1. Pour enough milk in the dish to completely cover the bottom. Let the milk settle.

2. Add a small amount of each of the colors of food coloring. Keep the drops close together near the centre of the dish.

3. Next, pick up your cotton swab. Touch the tip of the swab into the centre of the milk - it’s important that you don’t stir the milk. What happens?

4. Now, place a drop of dish soap on the other end of the cotton swab. Dip the soapy end of the cotton swab in the middle of the dish and hold it there for a few seconds. What’s happening now?

5. Add more soap to the cotton swab and try again. Experiment by moving the cotton swab to different places in the dish.

What makes the food coloring in the milk move?

Explanation

Dish soap is bipolar - that is, a soap molecule has a polar end which is hydrophilic (water loving) and a non-polar end which is hydrophobic (water fearing). The hydrophilic end of the soap molecule dissolves in water while it’s hydrophobic end attaches to fat molecules in the milk.

Milk is made mostly of water, which makes it easy for the hydrophilic end of the soap molecule to dissolve, but it also contains many other things such as vitamins and minerals. Milk also contains fat. The hydrophobic end of the soap molecules want to attach to the fat molecules.

As the soap molecules and the fat molecules interact, they move around in a little soap dance. While this dance, or gymnastic routine, is happening, the food coloring is moved all around the dish, giving us an easy way to observe the activity.

SSC Interview: Dr Mark Brigham - Bats in Saskatchewan

We have teamed up with our very good friend Dr. Brigham (aka “the bat man”) to talk about bats in Saskatchewan. The Science Centre and Dr. Brigham have been working for over 10 years on the Bat Rescue program in a joint effort to help bats through the wintering months.  

Who is Dr. Mark Brigham? 

Dr. Brigham is a Professor at the University of Regina where he and his students focuses their research on behavior in thermoregulation and hibernation, specifically on insect eating bats and birds called nightjars.  

What is the Bat Rescue Program? 

The Bat Rescue Program is a joint project between the Saskatchewan Science Centre and the University of Regina in which we house and care for bats who have woken from hibernation too early. They are kept in a safe warm place where they are fed and given water daily. The bats are often found in places they shouldn’t be such as attics, chimney’s and other places that may be warm for them to roost however, these places are not meant for them. When people find bats they can contact the SSC or the U of R Bat Lab. The bats usually stay at the Science Centre from October until May when they are released into the park where they can hunt for food and join the thousands of other bats within Regina.  

Donate to the Saskatchewan Science Centre and help support the Bat Rescue Program here: