Peep-O-Nauts
Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 3:25 pm
http://spaceweather.com/archive.php?vie ... &year=2014
When asked why the Peeps didn't explode, as they oftentimes do when placed in a vacuum desiccator and exposed to a laboratory vacuum (300mb or about 30,000 ft), as they reached the edge of space, I put forth the premise that the Peeps were frozen solid long before they left the troposphere. If the temperature near Ridgefield (2575ft. above MSL, 1006.8 mb) was 60°F, typical for early morning before the winds start howling, then at -3.6°F temperature drop per 1000ft, by the time the Peeps were at 500mb (about 10,000ft.) the temperature would be 24°F. The marshmallow structure would be already frozen, locking in place the air bubbles. Another 36°F drop in temperature at 20,000ft would be -12°F, thus strengthening the Peep matrix structure. By the time they reached the base of the stratosphere, 300mb -48°F, where they would pop at STP, the frozen water would be stronger than the trapped air bubbles. Of course, I'm probably wrong, but there were no popped Peeps, or Peeps a-poppin' as we say in SAVE THE PEEPS country.
When asked why the Peeps didn't explode, as they oftentimes do when placed in a vacuum desiccator and exposed to a laboratory vacuum (300mb or about 30,000 ft), as they reached the edge of space, I put forth the premise that the Peeps were frozen solid long before they left the troposphere. If the temperature near Ridgefield (2575ft. above MSL, 1006.8 mb) was 60°F, typical for early morning before the winds start howling, then at -3.6°F temperature drop per 1000ft, by the time the Peeps were at 500mb (about 10,000ft.) the temperature would be 24°F. The marshmallow structure would be already frozen, locking in place the air bubbles. Another 36°F drop in temperature at 20,000ft would be -12°F, thus strengthening the Peep matrix structure. By the time they reached the base of the stratosphere, 300mb -48°F, where they would pop at STP, the frozen water would be stronger than the trapped air bubbles. Of course, I'm probably wrong, but there were no popped Peeps, or Peeps a-poppin' as we say in SAVE THE PEEPS country.