Crushing a 55 gallon steel drum using nothing but air pressure

If you have ever used a 55-gallon steel drum or any steel drum, you know that these things have some major rigidity that can make them useful for carrying around expensive or hazardous chemicals without having to worry about their integrity.

This time, we check out an experiment that takes a steel drum and finds a way to crush it like it’s nothing more than a soda can. The best part is that it’s done using nothing more than an air pressure due to differences in temperature.

At first, the drum is filled with a little bit of water which is heated to the point where it becomes steamy. Once it’s nice and hot, the drum is capped and immediately dropped into a small kiddy pool with cool water and from there, the wait is on just see how it will react.

After a couple of moments, the drum gives, pulling from the inside to become nothing but a shell of its former self. This is a pretty neat experiment to watch as it unfolds in front of us. Check out the experiment in its entirety below!