Physics Demo in the Kitchen

Many years ago, somewhere in the neighbourhood of thirty, I believe, I bought a really good set of cookware. The set was around $600 and guaranteed for 25 years. They were the kind that you use only a little water and get a really good seal with the lids. It was a tough sales pitch as I recall, (stainles steel, nickel, blah blah) but over the years, well worth it.

When using pots and pans often they get bumped and banged and over the years and show their age with little dents and dings.

Well my good ol' Amway Queen cookware, after lots of bumps, bangs, and several moves, have stood the test of time. This morning we were amazed at the quality of the lid and the great demonstration of some law of physics - perhaps someone knows what one.

Ken was poaching eggs for breakfast. He brought the water to a boil, took the lid off the frying pan/egg poacher and set it on the stove surface. The lid had moisture in it from the steam and as it cooled, the lid stuck to the surface of the stove. It was so tight we couldn't move it. We tried to turn it to break the seal, no luck. We tried to find some tiny spot where we could put the point of a knife in and give it a twist to break the seal, again no luck. So our next thought was to turn the
elements on to heat the air underneath enough that it would let go. I was concerned about damaging the lid, but we had no alternative.

It worked and the lid is still in perfect shape. It seals the pan beautifully.

So, now I'm wondering what physics law is it that covers this sort of event. How about "The suction of shrinking air under a lid is directly proportional to the amount of surprise experienced by onlookers, and indirectly proportional to the amount of sleep onlookers have had the night before, resulting in complete and utter puzzlement." Hmmm, perhaps that's not so much a law of physics as a law of psychiatrics?!