In this lesson you will observe a gaseous phenomenon. You will then be asked to create a model of the phenomenon in order to explore different gas variables that give rise to that phenomenon.

Watch the video of the gaseous phenomenon and then read the information below that explains the events that led up to the incident.

On Thursday, April 4, 2019, a Burlington Northern train unloaded its cargo in Union Station’s railroad yard. As with all train cars after being unloaded, the local railroad crew was assigned the task of cleaning the interior of each car. Since the train cars were not unloaded until near the end of the evening working shift, the crew members were rushed to finish the job.

With cleaning equipment in hand, each worker steam cleaned the inside walls of each train car. Once completed, the tanker car was sealed. Since it was already 9 PM, each worker was eager to “clock out” and return home for the night. The tanker car sat sealed overnight.

When the Burlington Northern employees returned to work the next morning, all employees were required to gather, view, and record a video of a safety training procedure with the tanker. However, to the surprise of everyone, something dramatic happened and was captured on video. The video shows the very tanker that was cleaned and sealed the night before imploding before their eyes. The overwhelming question among the Burlington Northern employees is what had happened to the tanker?

How could a train car with a steel plate thickness of 1.11 cm suddenly collapse overnight? It is hard to imagine the forces it took to do this much damage, to such a large steel object. As a Chemistry Safety Engineer for Burlington Northern, your task will be to determine what happened on the morning of April 5, 2019 to the imploded tanker.

On the previous page you explained why you believe the gas tanker imploded; your answer is referenced below. Now each member of your group will share their explanations in order to come to a consensus as a group. Your group must agree on an explanation before proceeding to model creation below.

In order to create a model, the events from that night in April 2019 will be broken down to four distinct moments in time. The first moment is the gas tanker sitting open prior to cleaning. The second moment is during the steam cleaning, again with the lid still open. The third moment is after the steam cleaning with the lid closed while the tanker sits overnight; this actually spans the greatest amount of time as the tanker sitting all night needs to be considered here. The final moment is the gas tanker imploding with the lid still closed.