ST Alpha - "Q: A marshmallow is put into a closed container. The air is then removed from the container. What happens to the marshmallow, and why?" (Reading a Post)

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Q: A marshmallow is put into a closed container. The air is then removed from the container. What happens to the marshmallow, and why?

Posted by nubby Jul 22 '10, 18:49

(We did this in class.)

A: The marshmallow will begin to expand (true) because the gravity from the container in the inside is pulling on the marshmallow.

Responses:

stay fresh if you put it in the freezer -- nm - peglegpete Jul 22, 19:23
mandy opens the container and eats the marshmallow -- nm - chuckles Jul 22, 19:15
it becomes a miniature marshmellow and gets shipped off to swiss miss for packaging -- nm - JenBro Jul 22, 19:12
Well, since gravity might just be a side effect of entropy, as the air evacuates the inside does cool down, right? -- nm - landbeck Jul 22, 19:06 7
- actually, if it turns marshmallow gas, heat would be released -- nm - zork Jul 22, 19:16 3
  - If I read what you're saying right, you've got that backwards. Evaporation is an endothermic process. -- nm - Reagen Jul 22, 19:19 2
    - d'oh. i'm still tired from the long hospital visit last night - zork Jul 22, 19:23 1
      - one of the fun consequences of this is that you can make ice at the same time that you're cooking something with one of those little propane bottles. -- nm - Reagen Jul 22, 19:26
- Your forgot to cite the Maxwell equations. -- nm - Reagen Jul 22, 19:12 2
  - that's his kid's name. :) -- nm - loosilu Jul 22, 19:16 1
    - *reminds self to check and make sure he logged out of facebook* -- nm - landbeck Jul 22, 19:24
question fail. you didn't specify whether it's a rigid container or not ... - zork Jul 22, 19:04 6
- Heh heh heh heh, he said rigid -- nm - Nubby's Students Jul 22, 19:08 1
  - The other day I said "It's not the size that matters, it's the speed." - nubby Jul 22, 19:09
- Thankfully no one called me on it. -- nm - nubby Jul 22, 19:05 3
  - Why would you call zork a no one? -- nm - I'm Bacon Jul 22, 19:09 2
    - Depends, what's his mass? -- nm - nubby Jul 22, 19:09 1
      - my wife would call me a gas giant - zork Jul 22, 19:11
A: Nothing. - Stephen (Status Seeker) Jul 22, 19:02 1
- You can still eat them! - nubby Jul 22, 19:06
but, wait. is the air expanding, or are the protein strands being stretched? -- nm - loosilu Jul 22, 18:59
The marshmallow will start to expand...but hesitate. "I may become more attractive to prey. This is bad." And then it will shrink. -- nm - Max Jul 22, 18:55 1
- We can only hope the 'shmallows don't become sentient. -- nm - nubby Jul 22, 19:07
Huh? Wouldn't the air trapped inside the marshmallow try to get out to equalize pressure? - I'm Bacon Jul 22, 18:53 15
- You're too smart for my class, I guess. -- nm - nubby Jul 22, 18:54 14
  - Except I am lost. Was that an answer a student gave? Is that the real answer? -- nm - I'm Bacon Jul 22, 18:55 13
    - Yeah, it took me while too. I think it's a student answer and obviously wrong. -- nm - mara Jul 22, 18:57 12
      - yes, nubby tends to post his most egregious student answers here as a form of catharsis -- nm - Beryllium Jul 22, 18:58 11
        
        Thanks, drill sergeant therapist. -- nm - nubby Jul 22, 19:01 2
        
        Why don't you take a trip to Mamby Pambi Land! -- nm - I'm Bacon Jul 22, 19:03
        
        the gravity thing is pretty damn funny. -- nm - loosilu Jul 22, 19:02
        
        as a former TA (who had to grade Intro Bio essays), I get that. -- nm - loosilu Jul 22, 19:00 7
        
        I'm suprised his eyes don't pop out and roll around on the floor in the middle of class. -- nm - Beryllium Jul 22, 19:01 6
        
        "Professor, I don't think that's possible under the laws of thermodynamics. Stop that at once!" -- nm - Beryllium Jul 22, 19:02
        
        seriously, you grade (literally) hundreds of essays, and you go insane. -- nm - loosilu Jul 22, 19:02 4
        
        This explains so much. -- nm - mara Jul 22, 19:03 3
        
        burn! -- nm - zork Jul 22, 19:07 2
        
        it's not a burn when it's 100% true. -- nm - loosilu Jul 22, 19:17
        
        heh. after the Salem thread -- nm - zork Jul 22, 19:08
it was expand, because its yummy -- nm - tRuMaN Jul 22, 18:52 2
- The Law of Yumminess Maximization. -- nm - nubby Jul 22, 18:53 1
  - yup, that is the one. -- nm - tRuMaN Jul 22, 18:55
"gravity from teh container"? Doesn't mass produce gravity? -- nm - mara Jul 22, 18:50 9
- Does the container have mass? -- nm - Reagen Jul 22, 18:52 4
  - A very small amount compared to the planet. -- nm - mara Jul 22, 18:53 3
    - I was born under the astrological sign of the Container. -- nm - loosilu Jul 22, 18:59 2
      - Sounds like BP should have hired you -- nm - Beryllium Jul 22, 19:00 1
        
        I wish someone would. -- nm - loosilu Jul 22, 19:01
- Apparently air is repulsive? -- nm - nubby Jul 22, 18:51 3
  - no, that's pixie. -- nm - loosilu Jul 22, 19:00 2
    - pixie causes marshmallows to get fat. you heard it here first! -- nm - Beryllium Jul 22, 19:01 1
      - Pixie -- both the cause and cure of all our problems. -- nm - mara Jul 22, 19:02

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Q: A marshmallow is put into a closed container. The air is then removed from the container. What happens to the marshmallow, and why?

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