ok, roomy vacum collap-sy-ness?

[clairey-s]

sorry. ignor the title, my Q is this:
You know those vacu-sack things, that you put clothes etc. in and suck air out of? well you suck air out of them and they collapse.
If you created a similar vacum in a room, would the walls collapse in?

thats not so clear is it? sorry x

[Clanad]

I don't think so... air is exerting 14.7 pounds per square inch at sea level. Most structures are built to withstand much more than this. The collapsing of the plastic bag is because it has no structural integrity...

[mibn2cweus]

I have a window in my room that measures about one square metre. I would not recommend standing next to it with over 10000kg pressing against it.

[Loosehead]

depends how strong the room is but as mibn2 points out the pressure is approx 10 tonnes per square metre so a weaker structure could well collapse.

[jake-the-peg]

This is a picture of a vacuum chamber

http://www.abilityengineering.com/IMAGES/vacuu m/UHV-VACUUM-CHAMBER.jpg

Is your average room built like this?

Why is this?

Answers on a postcard......

[clairey-s]

Clanad & loosehead. everyone else, is there any need for the sarcasm? really?

x

[Loosehead]

I was trying to be constructive, no sarcasm intended.

[clairey-s]

argh! sorry supposed to say:

Thanks Clanad & loosehead. everyone else, is there any need for the sarcasm? really?

x

[jake-the-peg]

Sorry, meant in a humourous rather than sarcastic manner.

[Clanad]

I, too, clairey-s meant no sarcasm... however, since I didn't word my answer with sufficient clarity (pun only slightly intended) I'll concede, within the parameters of the now defined discussion, that if a vaccum achieved by a means other than the vacuum cleaner used to collapse the storage bags, then the design limits of most structures could easily be exceeded. However, the question referenced a "similar vacuum".. the device used to suck the air out of the vacuum storage bag is, of course, the standard vacuum cleaner, which was the basis for my guess. Again, no sarcasm intended, but here's a picture of an efficient vacuum chamber as well... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Edison_bulb .jpg ... I don't know for sure, but looks to me like it's glass, no?

[mibn2cweus]

. . . well, that narrows it down. "Everyone else" must be ME, henceforth and 4-ever more to be known as mibn2sarcastic <�?

Nevertheless, as bizarre as it may seem, a typical househood vacuum cleaner can produce a sealed pressure differential of 2-3 psi. For a fairly modest sized (3x4 metre) room, that translates into 10-20 tonnes of inward force on each wall plus up to an addition 25 tonnes of downward force overhead, comparable to a 2-metre deep swimming pool on your roof . . . really!

Would the walls in a room collapse from such a vacuum? All I can say for sure is, "I'm out of here!" ~ ~ ~ <o"o>

[Law Student]

Yes. I've seen this happen in a large plant room. A 10x10m partition wall was pulled in due to a fault on an HVAC system. Quite a mess!