Under pressure

Submitted by David Edwards on Wed, 09/15/2010 - 15:39

On the last camera trip to the seafloor, 1315m below us, we decorated a load of polystyrene cups and sent them down in a bag. Compare the before and after picture. One can see why the Alvin submersible has to be so strong!
 

Comments

That is pretty cool. Lisa

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 09/16/2010 - 12:35.

That is pretty cool.

Lisa

I think this is so fun and

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 09/15/2010 - 22:50.

I think this is so fun and interesting! What makes the cups shrink like that under pressure? How did you guys first experiment on the cup to find out it did that?! Thanks , Taylor Young

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Submitted by David Edwards on Wed, 09/22/2010 - 09:39.

My understanding is that the Syrofoam cups have air pore spaces in them, and so the great pressure on the seafloor crushes the pore spaces, so the styrofoam becomes denser (and smaller in the process)

Alvin

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 09/15/2010 - 22:30.

How much pressure can Alvin stand?

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Submitted by David Edwards on Wed, 09/22/2010 - 09:37.

I don't know - Alvin isn't run by IODP, I think it's Woods Hole Oceanographic.

I don't know - Alvin isn't

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 09/22/2010 - 09:35.

I don't know - Alvin isn't run by the IODP program, I think it's Woods Hole oceanographic.

Dear David, These cups are so

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 09/15/2010 - 22:14.

Dear David,

These cups are so amazing! How did the cups shrink to such a small size? Does it have to do with the conditions on the sea floor or? Why did you put the cups in a bag and not other containers? Why were you trying to figure out by experimenting with the cups? I am really interested in hearing your response and can't wait to hear from you!

from,
missy m

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Submitted by David Edwards on Wed, 09/22/2010 - 09:42.

The cups were put in a string bag and tied to the camera when it went down. The pressure deep down squeezes the pore spaces in the styrofoam and thereby crushes the cups. Just a bit of fun!

What causes the polystyrene

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 09/15/2010 - 20:46.

What causes the polystyrene cups to shrink?

A. Ruppel

What elements of the ocean

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 09/15/2010 - 20:24.

What elements of the ocean causes this transformation of the cup?

This is absolutely amazing. I

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 09/15/2010 - 19:30.

This is absolutely amazing. I can't believe how much the cups shrunk. I can't imagine how much pressure the water exerts on an object 1315m below the surface. -Nicola Su

I think that this is really

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 09/15/2010 - 16:16.

I think that this is really neat! I love how much it shrank from original size to now! It's incredible. I was just wondering, how long were the polystyrene cups left on the seafloor? How/why did the cup shrink so much? - Taylor Stevens