Chapter 17, Problem 38P

You’re a lawyer with an unusual case. A whipped-cream can burst at a wedding, damaging the groom’s expensive tuxedo. The can warned against temperatures in excess of 50°C, and the manufacturer has evidence that it reached 60°C. You don’t contest this, but you point out that the can was only half full of cream when it burst, meaning that the gas propellant had available more than twice the volume it would in a full can, and that some of the propellant had already been used. You argue that the real safety criterion is pressure, and that the can’s maximum pressure wasn’t exceeded. Who’s right?