Part II: Lab - The Crush: The Effects of Air Pressure
Now that you know what air pressure is, what causes it, and a bit about why it is an important factor related to the atmosphere, let's investigate a bit further. In this part of the lesson, you will perform an experiment that demonstrates the effects of air pressure.

1. Be sure to perform this experiment when an adult is present. Your parent or guardian should be your 'lab partner' for this lab.
2. Be sure to use a hot pad to move the can in this experiment to avoid being burned.
3. Keep all materials away from the burner. Do not touch the burner and do not let the hot pads touch the burner.

Note: You may want to print this page so that you have the procedure in hand as you perform the experiment.

Materials:
empty aluminum soda can
shallow pan (baking, or pie pan, or storage bowl will do)
water
metric ruler (to measure depth of water)
stove top burner
two oven mitts or hot pads

Procedure:
Note: Read all the instructions for this lab before you begin working! Pre-reading the procedure will give you a mental picture of what you will be doing and a better understanding of the process.

1. Make sure there are no materials around the burner. Then turn on the stove top burner to the highest setting.

2. Place shallow pan off to the side, on the counter, and pour water into the shallow pan to a depth of 2 centimeters. (Measure to be sure it is this deep.)

3. Fill the soda can so that there is about 1 centimeter of water at the bottom. (This does not have to be exact.)

4. Place the can carefully on the burner so that it stands up securely. *Have the pan with the water in it on the counter near the burner.

5. Allow the water in the can to heat up until the water inside is boiling rapidly, and you see steam rising from the opening of the can (This will take 3 - 5 minutes). Let it boil for about 30 - 60 seconds.

6. Use the hot pads to remove the can from the burner. (Do so by placing one hot pad on top of the can and lifting from the top. Then placing the second hot pad on the bottom of the can and gripping at the bottom of the can, quickly put the can upside down in the water in the pan.)

7. Observe and record what you see and hear.

8. Leave the can in the water for a moment. Measure the amount of water in the pan. Was it more or less than when you began? Think about why?

Collecting and Analyzing Data:
On the Work File, you will find a Lab Report that has been partially filled out for you. You will need to answer all of the questions you find there with the knowledge gained in 2.04a and in making observations during this experiment.