site logo

The Exploded Bladder


Take a glass pipe open at both ends, to one of which tie fast a wet

bladder, and let it dry. Then place it on the plate of the pump. While

the air presses the bladder equally on both sides, it will lie even

and straight; but as soon as the air is exhausted, it will press

inwards, and be quite concave on the upper side. In proportion as the

air is exhausted, the bladder will become more stretched; it will soon

yield to the incumbent pressure, and burst with a loud explosion. To

make this experiment more easy, one part of the bladder should be

scraped with a knife, and some of its external fibres taken off.



More

;