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Frostbite Theater

Popping Film Canisters!

What happens when liquid nitrogen is trapped inside a sealed container? Play the video to find out!

Announcer: Frostbite Theater presents... Cold Cuts! No baloney!

Joanna and Steve: Just science!

Joanna: Hi! I'm Joanna!

Steve: And I'm Steve!

Joanna: And this is a container of liquid nitrogen!

Steve: And these are a bunch of film canisters!

Joanna: Let's see what happens when we trap the liquid nitrogen in the film canisters!

Steve: Okay!

Now the room, and everything in it, is way too hot for the liquid nitrogen to stay as a liquid. As soon as the liquid nitrogen touches anything in the room, it boils and changes into a gas.

Joanna: When liquid nitrogen boils, it expands by about 700 times. Eventually, the pressure in the canister will go so high that the lids will pop off!

Canisters: Pop! Pop! Pop!

Steve: Also keep in mind that as soon as we put the lids in place, nothing new goes in. The stuff that's in there, though, is moving faster because it's getting hotter.

Canisters: Pop! Pop! Pop!

Steve: As the nitrogen boils and changes to a gas, more and more particles hit the lid faster and faster, until eventually the lids pop off.

Canister: Pop!

Joanna: Thanks for watching! I hope you'll join us again soon for another experiment!

Steve: This is kind of fun!

Canisters: Pop! Pop!

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