eli5: how do paint rattlecans work?

Question

eli5: how do paint rattlecans work?

In: 16

Answer 1

There is some paint and some pressurized gas in the can. The tip of the can has a basic mechanism inside that lets the paint out when you press. A pipe is attached to this tip which reaches the bottom of the can.

When you press the head, the gas pushes on the paint and forces it to go somewhere. The paint has nowhere to go but the nozzle through the pipe.

(Actually the gas always pushes on the pipe. But the paint cannot move out until you press the head and let the paint out. )

Regular paint cans don’t work upside down because in that position the pipe is not in the liquid but in the gas.