Newtons second law

Way back in the 16th century some really smart guy named Isaac came up with some crazy ideas to try and explain how the universe works. The funny thing is, 500 years later his crazy theory's are still studied and considered to be the standard by which all modern laws of physics are based. Think about that. Nothing from 500 years ago is still relevant today. Wigs, vikings, crusades, stoning, castles, catapults, witches, knights, and jousting are all gone. Yet Newtons laws of physics are still with us. Pretty amazing if you ask me.

The reason for the history lesson is because of the little demonstration I recently received, showing Newtons second law in all of its glory. For those of you not versed in the laws of physics, I will explain a few to you. Most of you already know the first law, "Every body remains in a state of rest or uniform motion (constant velocity) unless it is acted upon by an external unbalanced force." Or simply put, an object in motion tends to stay in motion.

Even more of you are familiar with the third law, "The mutual forces of action and reaction between two bodies are equal, opposite and collinear." Or as as you may know it, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Yet the poor second law is lost and forgotten to most of us. Like the typical middle child shadowed in the achievements of its prodigious siblings, the second law is left with feelings of inadequacy and self doubt. Fear not second law, for I am about to show the world your power in all of its glory.

Newtons second law states, "A body of mass m subject to a force F undergoes an acceleration a that has the same direction as the force and a magnitude that is directly proportional to the force and inversely proportional to the mass." Basically this means that an object will accelerate at a rate equal to the force propelling it. For example, if you push a ball it will move at a certain speed. If you push that ball three times harder, it will move three times faster. Get it? good!

Now lets discuss carbonation for a minute. Carbonation is simply the act of dissolving carbon dioxide (CO2) in a liquid. A coke can is pressurized to keep the CO2 diluted in the water, hence the rush of air that escapes when you open a can of coke. CO2, even when diluted in coke, is still a gas and must obey the laws of physics as they pertain to gasses. One of those laws says that as a gas heats up it must expand. Therefore the hotter you get CO2 the more it must expand. If it is contained inside of an aluminum cylinder the pressure will eventually get to the point where the can is no longer able to hold the pressure. Then you get something like this:



For those of you wondering, that is what happens when you leave a Diet Dr Pepper in the 140 degree heat for a few hours then drive down a bumpy road. Here is a picture of the headliner in the truck to show you how much force an exploded soda can will create.



This coke episode happened in the front seat of a full size GMC Yukon XLT. The picture below is of the back window which is a good ten feet from the location of the explosion. Newton would be proud!



I think this may finally answer the question of "just how hot is it there?" Frying an egg is childs play. Exploding a soda can like an M80. Now thats hot!