What Would Happen to a Jar of Oxygen in Space?
Exposing a jar of oxygen to the vacuum of space causes rapid pressure-driven mechanical failure before the oxygen inside cools or solidifies. The jar faces extreme outward pressure that can make it explode, while the oxygen cools only slowly by radiating heat. The jar’s strength and initial oxygen pressure control the outcome, rather than temperature changes.
1. Environment and Initial Setup
Imagine holding a jar filled with oxygen on a spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS). Initially, both jar and oxygen are near the ISS ambient temperature, roughly room temperature at about 20°C. Immediately outside the station lies the vacuum of space.
Space lacks matter; it is nearly a perfect vacuum. This means the jar suddenly experiences conditions with effectively zero external pressure. The temperature itself is less relevant than the absence of particles and pressure.
2. Cooling Process in Vacuum
Radiative Cooling of Oxygen
Without air or matter around, heat cannot transfer via conduction or convection. The jar and oxygen lose energy only by radiative cooling—emission of infrared photons into space. This is a slow process governed by the Stefan-Boltzmann law:
The power radiated per unit area is proportional to the fourth power of the temperature.
Initially warm, the jar and oxygen gradually emit thermal radiation and cool over time. However, this cooling is slow because the vacuum insulates well against heat loss. The environment itself does not provide any cold gas or liquid to absorb this heat.
Temperature Requirements for Oxygen Phase Changes
- Oxygen condenses at about −183°C (90 K).
- Oxygen freezes at roughly −218°C (55 K).
The oxygen inside the jar will not solidify instantly. Instead, it must cool through these temperature points by emitting radiation. Until it reaches these low temperatures, the oxygen remains gaseous.
3. Pressure Differential and Mechanical Impact on the Jar
Pressure Inside Versus Outside
The biggest challenge is the massive pressure difference.
| Location | Pressure | Effect on Jar |
|---|---|---|
| Inside the jar | ~101 kPa (1 atm, standard) | Normal ambient pressure of oxygen |
| Outside the jar in space | ~0 kPa (vacuum) | Near vacuum, no atmospheric pressure |
This results in a thousand-fold relative increase in pressure inside the jar compared to outside. The jar walls withstand pressure pushing outward from inside rather than inward, their typical design scenario.
Jar Strength and Failure Risk
Most jars on Earth are made to resist inward external atmospheric pressure during canning, where vacuum forms inside as contents cool. They often survive several atmospheres of inward pressure. But in space, the jar faces the reverse: internal gas pushing outward against a vacuum.
- Glass jars may shatter because they are brittle under tensile (pulling) stress.
- Metal or strong polymer containers might resist better but still risk rupturing.
- Exceptionally robust containers, like pressure vessels, might survive but are not typical jars.
Risk of explosion or rupture is extremely high shortly after exposure, long before oxygen temperature drops enough to try to freeze the gas.
Altitude and Pressure Comparisons
At 50 km altitude, pressure drops to about 0.1 kPa, roughly 1/1000 of sea-level pressure. Oxygen inside a jar at this altitude would still press outward with about 1000 times the external pressure. While the temperature at this altitude is about 0°C, nowhere near oxygen’s freezing point, the mechanical stress normally causes failure before cooling matters.
4. Alternative Scenarios and Considerations
Slow Ascent to Vacuum Conditions
Bringing the jar slowly up from Earth’s surface to space does not generally solve the problem. The internal pressure remains near one atmosphere, but external pressure drops continuously, increasing the pressure difference.
The jar would likely fail at some point during ascent because mechanical stress builds continuously.
Freezing Oxygen in Space and Returning to Earth
An inverse scenario exists: freezing oxygen in space and sealing it in a jar for re-entry. As temperature and pressure change, the phase transition could increase internal pressure or stress. If pressure rises inside faster than the jar can withstand, burst risk remains.
5. Key Variables Controlling Outcome
- Jar strength: How much outward internal pressure can it tolerate?
- Initial oxygen pressure: Higher pressure means more force on the jar walls.
- Temperature changes: Slow cooling delays oxygen solidification, so phase change does not mitigate pressure quickly.
The jar’s mechanical properties dominate. Temperature and oxygen state changes occur over longer timescales and have limited immediate impact on structural integrity.
Summary
- Exposure to space’s vacuum creates a large internal-to-external pressure difference that pushes outward from inside the jar.
- Pressure differential likely causes typical oxygen jars to rupture or explode soon after entering space.
- Oxygen and jar cool by radiative heat loss slowly; phase changes in oxygen happen too late to prevent mechanical failure.
- Standard jars withstand inward atmospheric pressure but are poorly suited to outward pressurization in vacuum.
- Mechanical strength and initial oxygen pressure control whether the jar survives, not environmental temperature.
What happens to the jar of oxygen immediately after it’s exposed to space’s vacuum?
The jar experiences a huge pressure difference between its inside and the vacuum outside. This strain usually causes the jar to break or explode before the oxygen inside can cool or solidify.
Can the oxygen inside the jar freeze or solidify in space?
Oxygen must cool via radiative cooling to reach solidification, which takes time. Since the jar is exposed to space’s vacuum and emptiness, cooling is slow and happens long after mechanical failure is likely.
Does the jar’s material strength affect its survival in space?
Yes. Most common jars can handle some pressure difference because they are made to hold vacuum inside. But outer vacuum means outward pressure on the jar, which can cause it to burst unless the jar is exceptionally strong.
Would slowly bringing a jar of oxygen from Earth altitude up to space prevent it from breaking?
Slow ascent might help the oxygen temperature adjust but won’t stop the pressure difference from causing the jar to fail at some point during ascent.
Why doesn’t the surrounding cold space atmosphere rapidly cool the jar and oxygen?
Space is mostly empty and transfers heat only by radiation. Without air molecules to carry heat away, cooling happens slowly, limited by the Stefan-Boltzmann radiation law and the jar’s temperature.
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