1500 Ping Pong Balls + Liquid Nitrogen + Trash Can

WHAT COULD POSSIBLY HAPPEN???

1. Step one: fill a bottle with liquid nitrogen

2. Step two: close the bottle, throw it in the garbage can, fill it with ping pong balls

3. Step three: cover your ears

4. Step four: clean up

5. Here’s the original video

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=9RnkwXYmq-4.

It’s not entirely clear what this demo is trying to teach, beyond this: the reason the bottle explodes is because liquid nitrogen becomes a gas at room temperature. Nitrogen takes up more space as a gas than as a liquid, causing the closed bottle to rupture violently. The ping pong balls, I think, are mostly just for show.