Manrique 1

Macy Manrique

Mrs. Stevens

Physical Science

12 December 2018

Does the Size of the Bag Affect the Size of the Explosion?

Did you know that the biggest explosion ever was in Indonesia. It was caused by roughly

1,000 megatons of TNT. One of the things that causes explosions is having gas in a closed

container. I wanted to test if the size of the container mattered. I thought ​if I changed the size of

the plastic bag, but keepted the amount of ingredients the same, then the smallest bag would

make the biggest explosion.”​Choi”.

How Does the Exploding Paint Bag Work?

Tempera paint contains limestone, otherwise known as calcium carbonate. ”​Exploding”.

Vinegar is an acid that is diluted with water so it is not as toxic. When the vinegar and

tempera paint, which contains limestone, come together there is a chemical reaction. The

reaction it has is similar to soda-pop bubbles, these rising bubbles are known as ​“effervescence”.

The reaction is caused by the combination of the vinegar with the calcium carbonate. When the

vinegar and limestone first meet causes the fizzy bubbles and sometimes explosions. “Hemmer”.

The explosion is caused by a chemical reaction with different atoms that become to large

for the bag, so it explodes.”Gaunt”.

Why Does Gas Pressure Cause Explosions?

The pressure can change in closed containers three different ways

○ temperature changes
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○ the number of molecules increases or decreases

○ volume changes

Did you know that gas does not have a designated volume? Gases also do not have a

fixed shape or form that they stay in. Boyle’s law helps people understand and visualize the gas

particles and behavior. Boyle's law says that when a container is full of separate individual

molecules they are constantly moving, bouncing, jumping, and hitting off each other and the

container walls. Boyle’s law deals the way gasses respond to volume change when temperature

and the numb of molecules stay the same. Boyle’s law states that as the volume of the container

that holds the gasses decreases the pressure increases. ”Staroscik”.

The explosions happen because the gasses just want to be released. “Gaunt”​.

How Do You Measure the Size of an Explosion?

At the explosions core a big chemical reaction occurs. People usually measure explosions

by the amount of TNT. People also use a scale called the Richter scale to measure the size of the

explosion. It is strangely difficult to measure explosions.“Thompson”.

The Richter scale is a numerical scale that is used to measure and express the magnitude

of an earthquake. Usually if the earthquake is on the more destructive side it ranges from 5.5 to

8.9. “Richter”

How Does the Thickness of the Bag Affect the Size of the Gas Powered Explosion?

There is a needed force to break, tear, and puncture that is directly proportional to the

tensile strength of the material the bag is made from.. If you take the bag with the most tensile

strength you will need the most amount of pounds or pressure to tear it. Just as the the bag made
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from material that has a weak tensile value will need the least amount of pressure or pounds to

break it or puncture it. The more tensile strength a bag has the more breaking force is needed.

“health”

How Does Temperature Impact the Speed of the Gas Explosion?

At a specific temperature different gas molecules will move faster and others might move

slower. Given this fact, this proves that each molecule has a slightly different reaction time and

kinetic energy. If you wanted to calculate the average kinetic energy you would have to use the

speed of gas. “Libertexts”

The warmer the temperature the faster the explosion will occur. Which means the warmer

weather should create an explosion that will happen quickly. “Gaunt”

The cause of a steam explosion is violent, boiling, or flashing of water into steam.

Usually gas explosions are not viewed as chemical explosions. Although steam does react with

other substances. “Deziel”

What Safety Precautions Should be Taken When Doing This Experiment?

During this experiment you should be safe. Follow these rules and you will be protected.

Always have goggles on or some type of protective eyewear. Wear some sort of thick type of

clothing. Adult supervision should always be necessary when doing a scientific project. Adult

assistance is always recommended when doing a experiment. When deciding the roles of

participation in this experiment you should probably look at the age to see what the safest most

attention captivating option is so it’s more enjoyable to all people involved. Finally you should
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make sure that all of the ingredients of this experiment are handled under adult supervision.

In the beginning I thought that ​if I put the same amount of materials in three different

​ ut what actually happened

sized bags that the smaller one would make the biggest explosion. B

was the medium sized bag had the biggest explosion. Smallest size bag made the second biggest

explosion. The largest couldn’t even explode, the contents of the gas wasn’t enough force to

break it open. From this experiment I realized the the amount of mass in contents needs to evenly

match the volume of the container.

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Works Cited

Choi, Charles Q. “Top 10 Greatest Explosions Ever.” ​LiveScience,​ Purch, 12 Mar. 2011,

www.livescience.com/13201-top-10-greatest-explosions-chernobyl-supernova.html.

“Craft Safety.” Crayola.com, www.crayola.com/support/craft-safety.aspx.

Deziel, Chris. “What Happens When Gas Is Heated?” Sciencing.com, Sciencing, 26 Apr. 2018,

sciencing.com/happens-gas-heated-8174546.html.

Dodrill, Dhuanne. ​Www.healthpack.net/Files/Public/Dodrill_Dhuanne.Pdf​.

“Exploding Art- Paint Bags.” Growing A Jeweled Rose,

www.growingajeweledrose.com/2013/04/paintbombs.html​.

Gaunt, Terry. “Science Fair Interview.” 28 Nov. 2018.

Hemmer, Sean. “Why Does Vinegar Affect Limestone?” Sciencing.com, Sciencing, 6 Dec. 2018,

sciencing.com/vinegar-affect-limestone-7888211.html.

Libretexts. “Connecting Gas Properties to Kinetic Theory of Gases.” Chemistry LibreTexts,

National Science Foundation, 26 Nov. 2018,

chem.libretexts.org/Textbook_Maps/Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry_Textbook_M

aps/Supplemental_Modules_(Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry)/Physical_Properties

_of_Matter/States_of_Matter/Properties_of_Gases/Kinetic_Theory_of_Gases/Connecting

_Gas_Properties_to_Kinetic_Theory_of_Gases.

“Richter Scale.” Google Search, Google, 2018,

www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS811US811&q=Dictionary&safe=active&

ssui=on#dobs=richter%20scale.
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Staroscik, Andrew. “Boyle's Law.” Buoyancy | Science Primer, 2018,

scienceprimer.com/boyles-law.

Thompson, Helen. “It's Strangely Difficult to Measure Big Explosions.” Smithsonian.com,

Smithsonian Institution, 14 Aug. 2015,

www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-do-we-measure-explosions-180956271/​.