Why do highly pressurized cans/gas cylinders ( like eg. lighter gas, propane cylinders etc) go cold when the pressure is released?
In: Other
All good answers so far, but let’s see if I can ELI5:
Things are hot because the tiny parts of them called atoms are moving fast. Some atoms are moving fast, some slow. Inside a pressure can atoms are crammed in there very tightly and want to spread out, but they can’t.
When you open a pressure can, the atoms are pushed out by thier neighbors. The faster ones are able to leave faster and more often, leaving the slow ones behind. This means the slow ones are the cold ones…
This is why opening a pressure container colds or down.
The other explains (energy pet volume drop etc) are also correct, but are either another way to say it more analytically, or use a bit of abstraction (like energy).
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