• crime [she/her, any]
    ·
    edit-2
    2 years ago

    Genuinely curious now, let's see how much i remember of gen chem and how many assumptions I can get away with making...

    First, let's assume that the tea acts and behaves like water.

    Typically, the contents of an aerosol are stored at 2–8 times normal atmospheric pressure

    According to FEA (European Aerosol Federation) standards, maximum pressures for typical aerosol cans are in the range 12–18 atmospheres.

    Let's assume the can starts at 8atm and 24ºC (room temperature) and bursts at 18atm. What temperature will the can contents be when it bursts?

    The ideal gas law, which states that pV=nRT (pressure * volume = amount of gas * ideal gas constant * temperature), allows us to model changes in pressure, temperature, and volume with the ratio P1 * V1 / T1 = P2 * V2 / T2.

    Volume may not remain constant, since water expands by a factor of 1600 when it turns into steam. This process happens at 100ºC at a pressure of 1atm, 170ºC at 8atm, and 205ºC at 18atm, so we can confidently say that if we reach the point where any of the tea is converted into tea vapor, the tea will be sufficiently hot. So for simplicity's sake, let's assume a constant volume of 300mL.

    P1 = 8atm
    V1 = 300mL
    T1 = 24°C
    P2 = 18atm
    V2 = 300mL
    
    (8atm * 300mL) /  24ºC = (18atm * 300mL) / T2
    
    T2 * 100 atm mL / ºC = 5400 atm mL
    
    T2 = 540ºC
    

    Since the temperature of the tea contents far exceeds the boiling point of tea under pressure, we can assume that when the can explodes the tea will be at its boiling point, i.e., hot as shit.

    • Wildgrapes [she/her]
      ·
      2 years ago

      So what your saying is the hotter claim may be true but the tastier claim is dubious because you won't be tasting much of anything at this point.

      • crime [she/her, any]
        ·
        2 years ago

        It is very hard to taste how bad this tea is when your tongue is melted, yes

    • TankieTanuki [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago
      P1 = 8atm
      V1 = 300mL
      T1 = 24°C
      
      

      At this state the tea is still a liquid, right? So the ideal gas law would be inappropriate.

      • crime [she/her, any]
        ·
        2 years ago

        mmmm fair. The ideal gas law would still apply to the NO2 or CO2 used to pressurize the can though