What would happen to a sheet of paper if you heated it to 452° F in a vacuum?

[Orrex]

[ThomCat]

1. Well, without oxygen it certainly won't burn.

So I don't know. That would be an interesting experiment to do so we could find out. Would it crumble to ash? Would it simply become brittle? Would it liquefy?

:shrug:

[elleng]

9. If its a real vacuum, that is, NADA, it COULDN'T burn, right???

[ThomCat]

12. I already said it couldn't burn. The question is, could something else

happen. The paper is at the burning point, so would the temperature alone cause anything to happen.

:shrug:

[Throd]

2. Ruin the warranty.

[Orrex]

3. Well, at least I'll have nature on my side

Since nature abhors a vacuum anyway.

[amerikat]

4. You wouldn't be able to hear it scream.

Sound doesn't travel in a vacuum.

[LostInAnomie]

5. It would start crying and wondering why you would do such a thing.

:cry:

[MilesColtrane]

6. It would pray for death and curse the tree seed from which it sprung.

And somewhere, Cheney would get an erection.

[JTG of the PRB]

11. ...

:puke: :puke: :puke:

UNCLEAN!! UNCLEAN!!!!!!!!

:argh:

[NecklyTyler]

7. The paper would fall at the same rate as a bowling ball if they were released at the same time

In a vacuum there is no resistance due to the air. Even if the paper were burnt to a crisp, the ashes would fall just like the bowling ball.

However, in a vacuum you would not be able to get a strike. The aerodynamic deflection of the 3 pin sending it into the 9 pin would not be there.

[Fire Walk With Me]

8. I'm not sure about the paper, but Guy Montag would shed a tear.

Shame on you.

[Orrex]

10. It's not my fault. I was at a party, and all the kids were doing it.

"Let's heat some paper to 452° F," said one of them.

"Yeah, but let's put it in a vacuum," added another.


And it sort of escalated from there.

[Fire Walk With Me]

16. If all the other children were assimilated by the Borg, I'll bet you'd stand in line with them.

(shakes head sadly)

[Orrex]

20. It depends, really. Do they have casual Fridays? What about pizza-day or donut-day?

[BlueJazz]

13. To get to the other side

[qnr]

14. I'm shocked nobody has mentioned the Hoover repairman yet n/t

[RandomThoughts]

15. Papyrus, rice, or wood paper? n/t

[Ikonoklast]

17. It turns into President Obama's birth certificate.

[surrealAmerican]

18. You'd get hot paper.

If your hand were in the vacuum too, and you touched the paper, you'd get a burn.

[trof]

19. In a vacuum it would suffocate. Or explode.

[NNadir]

21. It would carbonize, releasing small amounts of CO, H2O, and CO2, as well as MeOH, CH2O, and HCOOH..

Historically a similar process was used to make MeOH from wood; hence the name "wood alcohol."

[Kutjara]

22. Where would the "O" come from?

Breakdown of residual oxygen in the organic plant fibers?

[NNadir]

23. Yes. Paper has the empirical formula CH2O. Hence the name "carbohydrate" which

means literally a water bonded to a carbon.

Basically, the "carbohydrate" disproportionates.

[ashling]

25. But wouldn't that mean that there was no longer a vacuum?

[NNadir]

26. Well, yes, it would.

[ashling]

30. I guess the question then is

at what point is the vacuum no longer in existence, because at that point, the experiment, as originally propounded, is over. :shrug:

[billyoc]

24. 42

[Gormy Cuss]

27. How would you get the vacuum cleaner that hot?

:dunce:

[IcyPeas]

28. 451...... Fahrenheit 451................

everybody FAILS. Go read Fahrenheit 451. the temperature at which books burn.

[struggle4progress]

29. delete: comment made upthread

[eppur_se_muova]

31. Tobacco researchers have studied this extensively.

You get dozens of different decomposition products.

Which, if you're a smoker, you inhale with each puff, as some of the cellulose in cigarette paper and tobacco leaves pyrolyses before it can burn.

Plus, you get their oxidation products as well -- for a total of something like 1200 chemicals in cig smoke.

[KamaAina]

32. The question is, what would happen to the vacuum?

The plastic parts would probably melt. And stink up your whole house. :P

[OwnedByFerrets]

33. The Vacuum, (dust sucker) would problem go up in a putrid

puff of smoke and melted plastic on the floor.