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At the Museum of Science in Boston we are trying to build an outreach 
demonstration for a weather program that would involve building up air 
pressure in a large clear pipe.  We would like to have 2 large diameter 
(6" or 8") pipes that are connected by a hose with valves that we could 
use to open and close so that we could vary the pressure in each 
cylinder and observe the corresponding change in temperature.  Ideally, 
we would like to have the flexibility to build up a fairly large 
pressure (about 120-150 psi) inside the cylinders.

The problem we have been having is that none of the clear plastic pipes 
that we have been looking into are suitable for air pressure because of 
the danger of the plastic exploding and sending sharp pieces 
everywhere.  This seems to be true of both clear PVC and acrylic.  Does 
anyone  know of any stronger clear plastics that we might be able to 
use that we haven't considered?  We need to use a clear material 
because we are also planning to use the tubes as a cloud formation 
chamber; students will need to be able to see inside them.  The pipes 
also need to be fairly large for visibility reasons.  This 
demonstration will be for a large scale assembly program.

Please let us know if you have any suggestions for us.

Thanks,
Mike


Michael Adams
Traveling Programs
Museum of Science
Science Park
Boston, MA 02114
(617) 589-4253
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