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My kids and I tried this new experiment last week, and to be honest it was a bust. It did eventually work, but not before we failed no less than five times first. By then my kids were grumpy, disappointed, and disengaged with the experiment.
I was disappointed too, but I didn’t see it as a total failure. I saw it as a chance to learn from our mistakes, figure out what we were doing wrong and try again, and again, and again…
What we Learn When an Experiment Fails
By choosing not to give up the first time, or two, or three when this experiment failed, I was teaching my kids resilience. They were learning experiments don’t always go right the first time, and that’s ok. It’s actually one of the best parts of experimenting! When experiments fail, we get to think about why and come up ideas of how to fix it for the next try.
Failure is such an integral part of experimentation, I discussed it in both my books, STEAM Activity Journal and The Amazing Book of STEM. I share in both my books that Thomas Edison famously said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
We figured out first, the can wasn’t getting hot enough, then my tongs weren’t gripping the can good enough for me to quickly flip the can upside down. It kept slipping and entering the ice water at an angle, which allowed air to enter the can as it cooled.
If you’re interested in trying this experiment because failure doesn’t scare you ;), I have the step by step instructions below. But first, you can watch the experiment on my Instagram and YouTube videos!
Watch the Full Activity on YouTube:
Watch a Quick Overview of the Activity on Instagram:
Activity Overview:
In this activity you watch a can crush, just by placing it in ice water! I debated sharing this experiment because we had so much difficulty with it. This experiment failed on our first 5+ attempts. But when it works it is pretty cool! It makes loud crushing sounds and happens so fast! I wrote the instructions as clearly as possible to try to help you do this as easily as possible, hopefully with fewer failures than us, but don’t give up if it fails, its how you learn! 🙂
Because of the burn danger, this experiment is recommended as an adult demonstration for kids of all ages. Kids ages 12+ may attempt this on their own, by following the safety precautions and instructions carefully with adult supervision.
Materials:
- Soda can (must be empty and clean)
- Tongs
- Bowl
- Ice water
- Frying pan
- Stove
- STEAM Activity Journal (optional)
Safety:
BURN DANGER! The can becomes extremely hot on the stove and must be handled with tongs and/or an oven mitt. Do not touch the can with your bare hands.
Procedure:
- Fill a clean empty can with a small amount of water (enough to cover the bottom of the can).
- Bring the water to a boil by placing the can in a pan on your stove and heating the pan.
- Use tongs to grab the can and quickly flip it upside down into a bowl of ice water.
- The can will instantly crush.
- Optional: if it didn’t work the first time, use the STEAM Activity Journal to write about what problems you encountered and think about ideas for how you can improve for next time.
Note: The challenging part is flipping the can upside down into the ice water quickly. I simply was not able to do that skillfully with tongs (and it’s too hot to touch with your hands).
STEAM Concepts Learned:
This experiment works because the can is full of steam from boiling a small amount of water in it on the stove. When you flip it into the ice water, the cold water cools the steam, which changes its state to water. The water takes up less space inside the can than steam. Since no air can enter the submerged can, the outside air pressure crushes the can as the steam changes state to water.
If air enters the can as it touches the ice water it won’t work.Which is where I went wrong on most of my tries. I wasn’t able to fully flip the can into the ice water and it would hit it at an angle allowing air into the can.
Will you still try this after learning about our failures?
Recommended Products:
My two books, The Amazing Book of STEM and STEAM Activity Journal are focused on experimenting and learning from failures. They are both available for purchase on Amazon, linked below. Check them out, and if you like the books, please consider learning a review on Amazon! Reviews are the best way to help my books find a larger audience. 🙂
