Why Some Cans Have a Dent in the Bottom
Run your hand over the bottom of a can of soup and you’ll feel it — a shallow dome pushed up into the middle, so the can actually sits on its rim rather than flat on its base. It looks like a manufacturing shortcut. It’s the opposite. It’s one of the most deliberate bits of design in your cupboard, and it’s also a safety signal. Why the Bottom Is Domed Canned food is heated inside the sealed can to sterilise it. Heating makes the contents expand; cooling makes them contract. The can has to survive that, twice, without splitting. A …




