Bottles Broken By Air
Take a square bottle of thin glass, and of any size. Apply it to the
hole of the air-pump, and exhaust the air. The bottle will sustain the
weight of the external air as long as it is able, but at length it
will suddenly burst into very small particles, and with a loud
explosion.
An opposite effect will be produced, if the mouth of a bottle be
sealed so close that no air can escape; then place it in the receiver,
and exhaust the air from its surface. The air which is confined within
the bottle, when the external air is drawn off, will act so powerfully
as to break the bottle into pieces.