Why is Canned Air a Liquid?

[@zorinlynx]

To fellow viewers: This is also pretty much how an air conditioner works. The boiling you see in the tube is exactly what's going on in your air conditioner's evaporator coils! The difference is unlike that tube which is insulated, an evaporator coil is designed to absorb heat from the air as it flows through, making the air cold.

[@Here2shtpst]

You sir solved my answer beautifully

[@Here2shtpst]

Question... Solved my question.

[@aidan5125]

my buddies and I sprayed the can upside-down at each other. froze my thumb up pretty good....

[@aonomus]

An idea to make it more visually interesting on high speed would be to add some nucleation sites - a few silica gel beads likely would be able to do it?

[@slamdvw]

It is also very dense ( compared to air ). Fill a balloon with it, it'll sink like a rock. Quite fun.

[@micjr21]

Looked everywhere to try and figure out how cold it was n found it here. Great vid, thanks man

[@fisherteladi1837]

I'm definitely curious. What type of valve is it please ? Any name or link to find it on Internet ? Google image it shows no concrete result. Thank you.

[@NickMoore]

It's a brass needle valve. They aren't really made for this but they can open and close under pressure without binding up.

[@fisherteladi1837]

Thank you very much. That will do the trick for what I want.

[@NevinWilliams71]

I came upon this a few days ago; its relevant to the cavitation/implosion discussion we had. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bGGzlKeapLd7mpI This means that a can of liquid air is effectively a heat pipe, and it suggests that an implosion is not as likely when a large liquid component is still present when the container is sealed, but some interesting thermal properties come into play.

[@NickMoore]

I should do this with a big glass bottle, I would be easy to show with the IR camera!

[@NevinWilliams71]

What about that glass tube with the volatile liquid from a few videos back...?

[@NickMoore]

That might do it! If I turn it upside down it would be a kinda of 1 time use heat pipe as the liquid could not return to the bottom.

[@darthvail]

How did you construct the clear plastic tube for your demonstration?

[@chankthetank817]

it was a 2 liter bottle, befor they blew it up in the mold to make into into the 2 liter bottle we all know and love ♥

[@reaa1668]

How did you get it in the container and where do I find the container

[@jcims]

Nice demo! We used to fill pop bottles with propane and freeze stuff like you would with liquid nitrogen (the old man worked at a propane company).

[@NickMoore]

Cool, how do you get it into the bottle as a liquid at room temp/pressure? It might be fun to do some cryo experiments with dry ice and different compounds.

[@jcims]

Nick Moore We just held the pop bottle with our feet, put the fill nozzle at the top and opened up the valve. It would spew large billowing (and probably explosive) clouds of propane and after 5-8 seconds you would shut it off and see that the bottle is full of LP. It would refrigerate itself pretty gently until you dunked something in there. You could do the same with a bbq tank, just hold it upside down when you open the valve. It's not *that* cold though (-43F), mixing alcohol with dry ice makes a better (and more dangerous) freezing solution because there is no leidenfrost effect.

[@NickMoore]

I've done the dry ice thing a few times, good for a few demos. I wonder if it would be possible to condense propane or r34 from a gas to a liquid using dry ice...

[@jcims]

Probably, right? You could go through the trouble of a condensing coil if you don't want them to mix, or just run some through a container of the stuff and let it drip to the bottom. Of course you wouldn't heat up some cheap wine and pass the vapors through said condenser. Who would do such a thing?

[@NickMoore]

I can't think of anyone who would want to ;) I have thought about doing a demo on boiling points and distillation but the rules about it are so strict that it's more trouble that it's worth.

[@IDK-xw2ql]

What a cool well done and informative video

[@jamesfrancis5562]

I accidentally lit the air from it one time and my nostrils burned for days and I got light headed apparently it makes hydrochloric acid when burned. Nasty stuff

[@weweweLit]

very helpful and informative!

[@Tugmun11]

This is a great Channel thanks I just found you tonight (a tip from "AvE") I am really looking forward to viewing the rest of your video's Thanks for what you do

[@NickMoore]

Hi, I'm glad you like what I do, AvE is a great guy. I have lot's more new stuff planned for this spring and summer.

[@NevinWilliams71]

The temps are really close to -25˚C here at night, lately. That'd make for some interesting condensation experiments, perhaps similar to steam implosions....

[@NickMoore]

Yeah... at -25 would the inside of the can be under vacuum instead of pressure? You could cut it open and pour it in a bucket at ambient pressure.

[@NevinWilliams71]

Engines that haven't run for 25+ years are cranking up in my head. Volatility, vapour pressure, equilibrium, closed systems... While I can't quite explain why, yet, I don't think there'd be as much of a differential where it already existed as a liquid, then cooled, as there'd be if it was in vapour form then condensed. (If that's true, for some reason, maybe that'd be why some steam implosions are more violent than others...?)

[@NevinWilliams71]

It came to me while driving home tonight, thermometer reading -24˚C: As the vapours condensed, the pressure would drop, and bring the fluid's boiling point down too, until equilibrium was reached. Each liquid has its own vapour pressure... The easier for molecules to leave the company of others, the greater the vapour pressure. Polar molecules like water have a more difficult time to evaporate than non-polar molecules, like the alkanes and ethers.

[@NevinWilliams71]

I found vapour pressure data for difluoroethane: 22.72 to 263.7 kPa corresponding to temps 219.9 to 273.3K. -25˚C is almost midpoint in that temp range, which corresponds to a pressure of 129 kPa, or ~+4 psi above std pressure. (not my favourite branch of chemistry, for sure)

[@NickMoore]

Nevin Williams Interesting, I need to get it a lot lower than Canadian winter to do R134 implosions... Not that I will let that slow me down!

[@AbdAbdAbdAbd]

can thermodynamics break/destroy tech?

[@notsogreat123]

Because it's not air !! Probably propane or a type of freon.

[@Hirudin]

Awesome vid!

[@NickMoore]

Thanks!

[@etherlords88]

Science is fun and fantastic!

[@nraynaud]

interesting. Is it me or your container is a soda bottle before it is blown?

[@NickMoore]

Yes, it is a 2L bottle pre-form. The top is molded on when the pre-form is made, then the bottom is heated and blown up inside a metal mold.

[@burcburc865]

very cool!

[@u0314]

so thats why the canned air is so cold :)

[@doitynoid2790]

I would be juiced if you teach science by now bro.

[@NickMoore]

I'm not sure I could be a proper teacher but I try to be as clear as I can in my videos here.

[@jaxnean2663]

Totally interesting. Btw, your t shirt is super cool!

[@NickMoore]

Thanks, the shirt is from TeeFury.

[@blademasta3650]

Canadian

[@TheChipmunk2008]

Actually some canned air is propane (yes, propane).

[@NickMoore]

I've heard of it being used as spray paint propellant but never as super duster. I'll have to keep an eye out for some.

[@TheChipmunk2008]

Nick Moore I'm in the UK, our enviro rules tend to be stricter even than the rest of the EU, because our government takes EU recommendations and immediately makes them laws :) Odd fact though, it's not easy to set alight: The pressure in the can is so high and the nozzle so small, the flame tends to blow itself out. All bets of course are off if you invert the can.

[@5thDragonDreamCaster]

I've heard some is butane. Butane boils at 30F so it only needs to build up 30-40psi to stay liquid at room temp, and a soda bottle can hold up to 80 psi.

[@JackSpeed]

epic

[@dpfserviceireland3570]

2nd