# What would happen to a wet sponge in a sealed vacuum chamber ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 9, 2017, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-to-a-wet-sponge-in-a-sealed-vacuum-chamber/795920 "2017-09-09T18:08:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bones\_Daley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@Bones\_Daley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bones_Daley)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2017, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-to-a-wet-sponge-in-a-sealed-vacuum-chamber/795920/21 "2017-09-12T17:35:18Z")
Interesting information from the experts here …thanks. Maybe you could satisfy my curiosity about a related question. If you took a solid wood acoustic guitar, strung up to pitch, and subjected it to the total vacuum experience, would the removal of all moisture from the wood and the glue cause the guitar to collapse under tension ? Would the type of glue make any difference to the end result ? ie would it matter whether the glue was a PVA such as Titebond, or whether it was a protein based glue such as hide glue or fish glue ? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2017, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-to-a-wet-sponge-in-a-sealed-vacuum-chamber/795920/22 "2017-09-12T19:17:39Z")
It probably wouldn’t do much of anything to it. If a guitar could collapse from loss of moisture, then this would already be happening in arid parts of the world. A vacuum chamber might get there quicker, but there’s no difference in end result between vacuum and 0% humidity (at least so far as moisture is concerned). ---
**Author:** ![Bones\_Daley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@Bones\_Daley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bones_Daley)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2017, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-to-a-wet-sponge-in-a-sealed-vacuum-chamber/795920/23 "2017-09-12T19:29:08Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > It probably wouldn’t do much of anything to it. If a guitar could collapse from loss of moisture, then this would already be happening in arid parts of the world. A vacuum chamber might get there quicker, but there’s no difference in end result between vacuum and 0% humidity (at least so far as moisture is concerned). Thanks. That was my hunch, but just wanted to confirm. ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2017, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-to-a-wet-sponge-in-a-sealed-vacuum-chamber/795920/24 "2017-09-13T02:32:12Z")
You can watch it here. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ThWzBrdfIl4/maxresdefault.jpg "Experiment Sponge In Vacuum Chamber | The Crusher") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThWzBrdfIl4) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2017, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-to-a-wet-sponge-in-a-sealed-vacuum-chamber/795920/25 "2017-09-13T06:59:51Z")
Liquid water can’t really exist at vacuum. See the [water phase diagram](http://webhome.phy.duke.edu/~hsg/363/table-images/water-phase-diagram.gif). That’s why it’s either ice or vapour, no inbetween. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2017, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-to-a-wet-sponge-in-a-sealed-vacuum-chamber/795920/26 "2017-09-13T13:39:58Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > I placed a wet foam pillow insert (squeezed as dry as I could) into a large vacuum chamber that pumped down to less than 50 microns in about 40 minutes, then stayed there for an hour or so. When we pulled it out, the core was frozen solid and took a loooong time to thaw since the foam acted as an insulator. That is what I expected. You’d end up with a freeze-dried sponge with a frozen core that won’t sublime quickly because it is insulated. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-to-a-wet-sponge-in-a-sealed-vacuum-chamber/795920.md?page=1)