Puff the Magic Pressure Box
Thermodynamics of Materials Class Project
Given a few weeks to make a project for this class, my friend and I decided to make a homemade adjustable pressure and temperature box out of scrap material.
After scavenging for scrap acrylic, we designed a laser-cut puzzle box and stand, then used acrylic weld to attach it together. Adding in a hot plate, as well as an attachment for a shop vacuum, we then created a seal for the box using silicon sealant and gasket material. The gasket material was a difficult challenge, as we wanted to the box to seal under vacuum, yet we wanted to be able to remove the box lid at will.
When it came time for our actual demonstration, we ended up pivoting from shrinking a marshmallow to controlling the boiling point of water. Using the hot plate, we were able to control both temperature and pressure of the box, and we demonstrated how reducing the pressure of the box lowers the boiling point of a material!
For the short amount of time we had for this project, it was a great success.