FYKOS Year 31 Series 1 Problem 4 — my bottle is cracking · FYKOS 31 #31.1.4
Physics · thermodynamics
Problem
What happens when we close an almost empty 1.5 liter PET bottle in a well-heated office, let's say at t_k=26 \C, and then walk down the stairs with it? The bottle starts to make cracking noises. What has a bigger effect on this phenomenon, the fact the atmospheric pressure is changing as we walk down 10 floors of the building, or the fact that the temperature on the stairs is a bit lower, let's say, t_s=15 \C?