Chemistry Question About SprayPaint

[UNIquelyCanadian]

Can anyone with some chemistry knowledge help me out?

I took a half full plastic bottle of water and sprayed some spray-paint into it then closed the lid. After mixing the paint propellant with the water, the bottle imploded leaving next to no air in the bottle!

I tried it several times, for it to work you have to shake the bottle and have some water in it. It works spraying the paint or just spraying the propellant.

Why does this happen?

[phlegm]

I don’t know about the specific compounds involved, but the propellant must combine with air to form a substance that readily dissolves in water.

[dudewithasock]

Did you put any pictures of it up on your macro-photography site?

[UNIquelyCanadian]

@dudewithasock

Did you put any pictures of it up on your macro-photography site?

I discovered it at work so I couldn’t take any photos. If you have any spray paint you could try it and see if it works with a different brand of paint?

Does anyone somehow somewhere have somewhat of an idea about something to do with the reaction?

[iridemymuni]

how much paint in there?

[iridemymuni]

i went down and tried it, i also videoed it. but nothing happened, at all.

[tomtrevor]

maybe he used a different spray paint which had another type of chemical in it.

[iridemymuni]

i used two different types of spray paint. i thought the propellant was always hydrocarbon?

[TheObieOne3226]

You may have just forced all of the air out of the water bottle. Then the propellant (which may be less dense than air) was absorbed by the water or something, leaving a vacuum. Implosion.

[jake_amos]

yes that would make perfect sense if i knew what you were talking about

[Jim_Rob]

Congratulations, you’ve just demonstrated Henry’s Law.

Henry's law

The solvent and aerosol propellant gas must be soluble in water. When you spray the paint into the bottle, the vapors displace air. Then when you cap the bottle and shake it, the vapors equilibrate with the aqueous phase according to Henry’s Law. If they are very soluble then the partial pressure of the solute above the solution will be quite small, thus the bottle collaspes. No real reaction necessary.

(Every good explanation has to use the word ‘thus’)

[THE_dave]

my spray paint failed…

[UNIquelyCanadian]

@Jim_Rob

Congratulations, you’ve just demonstrated Henry’s Law.

Henry's law - Wikipedia

The solvent and aerosol propellant gas must be soluble in water. When you spray the paint into the bottle, the vapors displace air. Then when you cap the bottle and shake it, the vapors equilibrate with the aqueous phase according to Henry’s Law. If they are very soluble then the partial pressure of the solute above the solution will be quite small, thus the bottle collaspes. No real reaction necessary.

(Every good explanation has to use the word ‘thus’)

That would make sence, thus my search is reached it’s end!

Thanks for your help.

[tomtrevor]

@Jim_Rob

Congratulations, you’ve just demonstrated Henry’s Law.

Henry's law - Wikipedia

The solvent and aerosol propellant gas must be soluble in water. When you spray the paint into the bottle, the vapors displace air. Then when you cap the bottle and shake it, the vapors equilibrate with the aqueous phase according to Henry’s Law. If they are very soluble then the partial pressure of the solute above the solution will be quite small, thus the bottle collaspes. No real reaction necessary.

(Every good explanation has to use the word ‘thus’)

…yea that sounds about right