as I got out of the shower

Originally posted by twhitehead
... testing with different liquids would help identify which is playing the greater role. In addition to water, cooking oil would also be worth trying as that evaporates even less than water and also sticks to the sides longer.

Now that I have a repeatable set up, with sealable glass jars and a digital thermometer, would you suggest cooking oil alone, or oil and vinegar?

Originally posted by moonbus
Now that I have a repeatable set up, with sealable glass jars and a digital thermometer, would you suggest cooking oil alone, or oil and vinegar?

I was thinking of oil alone as oil has a high boiling temperature and doesn't evaporate easily. I would expect no measurable cooling with oil.

Originally posted by moonbus
Now that I have a repeatable set up, with sealable glass jars and a digital thermometer, would you suggest cooking oil alone, or oil and vinegar?

It'll taste nicer with some vinegar in and there are far too few edible experiments not to take the opportunity for an edible one to taste nice.

I think as a control it's a reasonable thing to do, but as twhitehead points out olive oil (?) isn't the most volatile liquid. After adding salad to consume the control experiment, you could try the process on some whiskey to see if there's an effect with that (beyond the headache the next day).

Originally posted by twhitehead
I was thinking of oil alone as oil has a high boiling temperature and doesn't evaporate easily. I would expect no measurable cooling with oil.

I agree. Volatile liquids would seem to be the best way to confirm or dis-confirm the evaporation hypothesis.

I'll have a go with spirits in due course. Hey, science is fun!

Originally posted by moonbus
I agree. Volatile liquids would seem to be the best way to confirm or dis-confirm the evaporation hypothesis.

I'll have a go with spirits in due course. Hey, science is fun!

Just don't make the mistake of drinking the lighter fluid or the deodorant.

Originally posted by twhitehead
Just don't make the mistake of drinking the lighter fluid or the deodorant.

I was thinking more along the lines of schnapps, grappa, ouzo, and so on.

Originally posted by moonbus
I was thinking more along the lines of schnapps, grappa, ouzo, and so on.

Keep in mind that many alcoholic drinks are mostly water and will not evaporate nearly as much as pure alcohol or other liquids commonly used in pressurised cans.

Originally posted by twhitehead
Keep in mind that many alcoholic drinks are mostly water and will not evaporate nearly as much as pure alcohol or other liquids commonly used in pressurised cans.

And on that note, the high pressure might also be a factor.

And/or significant pressure change might be a factor [you never know].

so we might want a safe way of testing varying pressure liquids [carbonated water?]

Originally posted by googlefudge
And on that note, the high pressure might also be a factor.

And/or significant pressure change might be a factor [you never know].

so we might want a safe way of testing varying pressure liquids [carbonated water?]

Just get some of the green fairy. That's about 80% by volume and contains wormwood to make it even more fun - after all absinthe make the heart grow fonder. If you want something stronger then back in the 80's Freisengeist was 98% by volume. You can drink this stuff afterwards

Originally posted by DeepThought
Just get some of the green fairy. That's about 80% by volume and contains wormwood to make it even more fun - after all absinthe make the heart grow fonder. If you want something stronger then back in the 80's Freisengeist was 98% by volume. You can drink this stuff afterwards

And you can double up on the science experiment by checking how badly you damage your liver in the process.

A few more results to publish:

isopropanol 70% solution, full bottle, quiescent temp: 20.8 degrees C
isopropanol 70%, full bottle, shaken (not stirred) temp: 20.8 degrees C

isopropanol 70%, 1/2 bottle, quiescent temp: 20.8 degrees C
isopropanol 70%, 1/2 bottle, shaken (not stirred) temp: 20.9 degrees C

Originally posted by moonbus
A few more results to publish:

isopropanol 70% solution, full bottle, quiescent temp: 20.8 degrees C
isopropanol 70%, full bottle, shaken (not stirred) temp: 20.8 degrees C

isopropanol 70%, 1/2 bottle, quiescent temp: 20.8 degrees C
isopropanol 70%, 1/2 bottle, shaken (not stirred) temp: 20.9 degrees C

Do we have a problem here with the fact that glass is a better thermal insulator than the thin layer of metal
used in the deodorant can?

Both in that any temperature change inside the can is going to be reduced and delayed on the surface,
and that the surface layer might heat more in contact with the shaker?

Also, we need parallel data on the subjective experience. Did either feel colder during or after shaking?

I doubt my skin could register a 0.1 degree change, but I'll repeat the experiment with a metal container and try the subjective touch test as well.

Originally posted by moonbus
A few more results to publish:

isopropanol 70% solution, full bottle, quiescent temp: 20.8 degrees C
isopropanol 70%, full bottle, shaken (not stirred) temp: 20.8 degrees C

isopropanol 70%, 1/2 bottle, quiescent temp: 20.8 degrees C
isopropanol 70%, 1/2 bottle, shaken (not stirred) temp: 20.9 degrees C

Those numbers suggest the last measurement was an anomaly, indicating no change in any measurement meaning the evaporation theory is wrong at least in this test. Perhaps not evaporative enough.

Originally posted by sonhouse
Those numbers suggest the last measurement was an anomaly, indicating no change in any measurement meaning the evaporation theory is wrong at least in this test. Perhaps not evaporative enough.

Perhaps isopropanol is not volatile enough to be measurable in this set up.