What a firecracker would do to a glass cub of water.

  • Thread starter Thread starter black phantom
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Glass Water
AI Thread Summary
Exploding an explosive in a container of water that releases energy equivalent to vaporizing the water would likely result in the container being destroyed and water spraying everywhere. The rapid energy release would create extreme pressure, leading to an explosion, even if the container is sturdy. Microwaves could theoretically vaporize water quickly, but would also risk causing an explosion due to steam pressure. Using a strong closed container might allow for vaporization without immediate disruption, but this method is also dangerous and not advisable for home experimentation. Overall, the discussion emphasizes the risks and theoretical nature of such experiments.
black phantom
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
Hello,
I'm trying to figure out what would happen if you put an explosive into a container of water where the explosive released the same amount of energy it would take to vaporize the water in the container. What would happen to the container?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Normally, the energy required to vaporize the water would be spread out over a fair amount of time, even if you were boiling it at a very high heat.

If you caused all that energy to be expended at one time, I would assume that the water would end up mostly on the ceiling and the container would be inserted into the walls in small pieces except for the parts that were absorbed by your body.

You would then regret having done the experiment.
 
Ok, would there be any way to vaperise water in a container w/ a sudden burst of energy w/out disrupting the container? Maybe w/out a chemical explosive? So there is little expanding non water gasses, just the pure release of energy?
 
black phantom said:
Ok, would there be any way to vaperise water in a container w/ a sudden burst of energy w/out disrupting the container? Maybe w/out a chemical explosive? So there is little expanding non water gasses, just the pure release of energy?

Microwaves. But unless you have an absolutely tiny amount it would require a huge burst. Much more than is safe to be around. And it is unlikely that the container would be able to survive the massive increase in pressure, so you'd still have an explosion, just from steam this time. Even an open container would probably be severely damaged unless it was very sturdy.
 
black phantom said:
Ok, would there be any way to vaperise water in a container w/ a sudden burst of energy w/out disrupting the container? Maybe w/out a chemical explosive? So there is little expanding non water gasses, just the pure release of energy?

I have done this many times with my tea, and had to clean the mircrowave oven afterwards.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superheating

The other way is to use a very strong closed container that can stand the pressure, and keeps the overheated water liquid, until you open it. But I'm not sure if you can get all the water to vaporize that way. And it is not a good idea to try this at home,
 
Last edited:
Ok, thanks everyone, you guys helped. And what I'm thinking about is not something i plan to do at home, its all strictly theoretical.
 

Thread '1:1 versus 2:1 Mechanical Advantage debate'

The rope is tied into the person (the load of 200 pounds) and the rope goes up from the person to a fixed pulley and back down to his hands. He hauls the rope to suspend himself in the air. What is the mechanical advantage of the system? The person will indeed only have to lift half of his body weight (roughly 100 pounds) because he now lessened the load by that same amount. This APPEARS to be a 2:1 because he can hold himself with half the force, but my question is: is that mechanical...
View full post »

Thread 'Average velocity as a weighted mean'

Hello everyone, Consider the problem in which a car is told to travel at 30 km/h for L kilometers and then at 60 km/h for another L kilometers. Next, you are asked to determine the average speed. My question is: although we know that the average speed in this case is the harmonic mean of the two speeds, is it also possible to state that the average speed over this 2L-kilometer stretch can be obtained as a weighted average of the two speeds? Best regards, DaTario
View full post »

Thread 'Newton's first law?'

Some physics textbook writer told me that Newton's first law applies only on bodies that feel no interactions at all. He said that if a body is on rest or moves in constant velocity, there is no external force acting on it. But I have heard another form of the law that says the net force acting on a body must be zero. This means there is interactions involved after all. So which one is correct?
View full post »

Similar threads

Raising humidity - how much water is needed?
Replies
3
Views
7K
Answer: Terminal Temperature of Water with Ice Cube
Replies
6
Views
3K
Would acceleration under water affect the person?
Replies
10
Views
2K
Bubbles in a falling glass of champagne
Replies
20
Views
5K
Vibrations in a glass with water.
Replies
5
Views
3K
Calculating water pressure and the required mass of water
Replies
27
Views
4K
Energy Required to Evaporate Water
Replies
23
Views
2K
B Energy transfer water > air in a greenhouse
Replies
5
Views
158
I Find Best Water Nozzle Type & Pressure for Longest Distance
Replies
32
Views
9K
Negative Pressure in a 10mL syringe containing 2.5mL water
Replies
7
Views
3K

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top