If I take an empty ordinary drinks bottle, place it in my mouth and

  • Level: High School 
  • Thread starter Thread starter jamesd2008
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Empty
Join the discussion
Registration is free. Start your own thread to ask a follow-up.
8 replies · 2K views
jamesd2008
Messages
63
Reaction score
0
If I take an empty ordinary drinks bottle, place it in my mouth and suck, the sides collapse in wards. Is this because I have reduced the pressure in the bottle and the weight of the atmosphere is crushing it?

Thanks in advance
James
 
Physics news on Phys.org


If you were in space and the bottle was uncapped, it would have a near-perfect vacuum inside. In such a case, it would suck your lips into the bottle and make you wish that you had remained on Earth. That is assuming that you could maintain your own atmosphere while doing so; otherwise, there would be no reaction. Your lips would freeze as soon as you stick them out of your helmet.
 


If an uncapped bottle is in space, there no air inside either inside or out. There is nothing to suck. If you try to use, say a bicycle pump, to suck the can, you'll just move the lever up without any resistance like you'd move a free rod. The can will not change shape.

On Earth's surface, there is a >100 000 feet column of air above the bottle that squeezes and deforms it when its air is sucked out.
 


Believe it or not, Doc, that was sort of what I was trying to say. I'm afraid that a modicum of alcohol got between my brain and my typing fingers. :redface:
 


Yeah, where I live, the alcohol limit went down to like 0.05 recently. I guess that still hasn't made it to the forums.

(You got some of that stuff for me?...)

(Hmm... one of these days, I got to try that Danger Special Davec was talking about in another post...:-p)