5 ms·
One of the things that I have heard before is that funeral homes sell these new "sealed" caskets. Now, the problem with sealing caskets is that the gases genera
by hyperliner 11y ago
One of the things that I have heard before is that funeral homes sell these new "sealed" caskets. Now, the problem with sealing caskets is that the gases generated through the process of decay of the body increase the pressure inside the casket over time, and many of them have been known to blow up in a rather noisy and (bad choice of words but I can't think of another adjective) awesome way.
People, tell your families not to spend money on these caskets, unless this blow-up action is part of your plan for leaving the world, one last final act! (I am not judging! Just informing).
- mod 11y agoIf I were making those caskets, I'd just put a one-way release valve on it. I think it's interesting that reactions can produce so much pressure, given that all the components "fit" into the space prior.
- WalterBright 11y agoConsider how a rocket engine works.
- mod 11y agoI don't actually know, but most engines are using gas from outside of the fuel source. I suppose perhaps they use a stored gas, given that they'd need it in space, or perhaps couldn't "grab" enough for the huge amount of fuel they're using. That said I'm aware of plenty of situations where similar things occur, I still find it very interesting.
- mikeash 11y agoRockets don't use anything from outside. Otherwise they wouldn't work in space too well, since it's a vacuum.
- TeMPOraL 11y agoRockets contains both oxidizer and fuel in liquid or solid forms, sometimes separated and sometimes even in one substance (monopropellants). Combustion products are gaseous, and gases tend to take more space than solids or liquids.
- sokoloff 11y agoOf course, if the combustion products didn't take up more space, the rocket would be remarkable in its ineffectiveness...
- WalterBright 11y agoThe heat of combustion will also cause more space to be taken up.
- biolime 11y agoCome on, it's not rocket science.
- bunderbunder 11y agoThe key difference between a rocket engine and other types of engine is that rocket engines only use chemicals that are stored onboard. If it needs gas from outside then by definition it's not really a rocket.
- dag11 11y agoAll of the components of diet coke and mentos fit into the bottle prior :)
- koliber 11y agoThis is the same case with bombs.
- hyperliner 11y agoBut why deprecate the blow-up feature? Let's offer the valve as an "option" for the less venturous types! :-)
- JshWright 11y agoPretty much any time you turn a liquid into a gas, it takes up a _lot_ more space.
- mod 11y agoIs there a pressure point at which the transformation cannot occur? (Obviously far beyond the realm of what a casket is going to contain)
- andrewflnr 11y agoYes, for any substance and temperature, there are ranges of pressures where it's gas, liquid, or solid. Look up "phase transition diagram" to get a better idea. But it's basically going to be different for every substance and every mixture of substances, so it's probably hard to predict at what pressure the gases coming off a corpse are going to liquefy.