Exploring the Poof/Foop Theory: a Hypothetical Situation
The Poof/Foop theory is this (yet another mystery created by somebody with too much time and put on the Internet):
A can of compressed air sits on a flat counter top. It is pierced on the left side. Thus, the air flows out of the bottle to the left and the bottle moves to the right.
Then the question is what happens in the following scenario.
A can of a vacuum sits on a flat counter top. It is pierced on the left side.
We are left to question what happens to this can of a vacuum. Does it move to the left, move to the right, or stay in place. Why does it do that?
Most would not say that it would move to the left. There is no reason for the can to move to the left. However, there are some people that may have this as a theory. It is rare to find, though.
There are some people who theorize that the can would move to right. This would be because air would enter the can and push against it causing it to move. Of course, the can would eventually stop, but at first the air would push against the can. It would only stop once the can was filled completely with air.
There are other who theorize that the can would stay still. This is because once the can is punctured, air would enter the can and the volume of the air would stabilize. There would be no air pushing against the can whatsoever.
Yet, nobody has yet tested this theory. What is the correct answer? Will we ever have an answer to this question?
Is anybody brave enough to test it? Is it ever safe to test? How do we go about conducting this test? Just where to we find a can that holds a vacuum?
How do we puncture the can? Is the hole made with a small pin or a large pen? How is the can made?
Perhaps the Mythbusters are our best friends in this case. Perhaps we’ll never know.
