Can water be boiled just by shaking it?

It is possible, at least in theory, to boil water manually. But this requires a lot of perseverance and time. (Image source: Pixabay/Maraisia)

There are such questions that one asks oneself TRUE The world doesn't ask at all. Or why would anyone try to boil water just by shaking it? However, in physics, such questions are not only allowed, but are actually very important, as you can read below.

But first, let's answer the title question without further ado: Can water be boiled just by shaking it? Yes, it really is possible – at least in theory.

However, you will have to pour the water into a well-insulated container so that the heat added by shaking is not immediately released back into the environment. You will likely have to vibrate continuously for a very long time – for days, as in a pen essay SWR He appears.

Why is this an important question from a physics perspective?

Well, because it led to profound scientific insight. Specifically, we are talking about the so-called Law of conservation of energyWhich was finally formulated by Hermann von Helmholtz in 1847.

This states that the energy in a closed system does not change with time. It can only be converted between different forms of energy. However, it is not possible to create or destroy energy.

Before Hermann von Helmholtz, other scientists had already achieved important advances on their way to the law of conservation of energy. For example, Heilbronn physician Julius Robert von Mayer.

He conducted experiments on water in the early 1840s. His assumption was that if kinetic energy could be converted into thermal energy, water should be heated by vibration. Von Mayer wrote that… Water can be heated from twelve to thirteen degrees by shaking it intensively. But he did not reveal how long it took or how much water he used.

However, the experiment pioneered the first approach to the law of conservation of energy. Von Mayer put it this way:

How is water heated by vibration?

This is actually very simple. Vibration transfers force to the water molecules. This causes them to move and rub against each other. Thus, kinetic energy is converted into thermal energy through friction.

To close the circuit at this point: If you shake it long enough and hard enough, the water will eventually start to boil.

Researchers now want to answer another exciting question from the world of science:

What do you mean? Can you really boil water just by shaking it? Or is this a completely unrealistic thought game for you? What questions from the world of physics concern you? Are you at all interested in questions from the world of science? Feel free to write it to us in the comments!