Andreina
placebo
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2001
- Posts
- 6,569
Some people just need to get a life!
This article was published today in "The Scotsman" newspaper www.thescotsman.co.uk
Halo
Physicist flips over the perfect pancake formula
Gethin Chamberlain
THEY stick to the bottom of the pan, cling to the ceiling or end up on the floor, but now a scientist claims to have worked out a mathematical formula to crack that most intractable of problems - how to toss the perfect pancake.
Dr Garry Tungate has applied his knowledge of physics to the problem in time for Shrove Tuesday tomorrow and concluded that there is a way of preventing culinary catastrophe.
With its reliance on theories of kinetic energy, torque, gravity and velocity, it may not feature in Delia or Jamie’s next cookbooks, but the Birmingham University physics lecturer’s formula is said to guarantee perfect results every time.
Claiming to have carried out his research in the kitchen of his own home, Dr Tungate concluded that half a joule of energy is needed to get a 50g pancake airborne to a height of one metre.
The pancake, weighing 50g, should be flipped into the air at a speed of 10 miles per hour, ensuring that it will take less than 0.5 of a second to reach the top of its trajectory. At this point the pancake should have rotated 90 degrees at a rate of 0.55 revs per second.
It then takes a further 0.45 seconds to make it back down to the pan, rotating a further 90 degrees on the way, making a total airtime of just nine-tenths of a second.
The pancake will then hit the pan with a velocity of 4.5 metres per second. Failure to position the pan correctly will result in the pancake continuing its journey on to the floor, which it will hit at 14 miles per hour, just 1.1 seconds after its launch. Worse, it will land uncooked side down.
Yesterday, Dr Tungate, whose research was sponsored by the Safeway supermarket chain, claimed it had been an interesting study.
"There is far more to tossing a pancake than meets the eye. I found that an average toss is a lot less than one-metre but a one-metre toss is much more impressive," he said.
"The best way to do it is to flip the wrist so that the pan moves in an upward arc which causes the pancake to slide up and out of the pan.
"A direct lift leaves a partial vacuum under the pancake which tends to keep it in the pan. The movement in the arc supplies the torque to flip the pancake."
This article was published today in "The Scotsman" newspaper www.thescotsman.co.uk
Halo
Physicist flips over the perfect pancake formula
Gethin Chamberlain
THEY stick to the bottom of the pan, cling to the ceiling or end up on the floor, but now a scientist claims to have worked out a mathematical formula to crack that most intractable of problems - how to toss the perfect pancake.
Dr Garry Tungate has applied his knowledge of physics to the problem in time for Shrove Tuesday tomorrow and concluded that there is a way of preventing culinary catastrophe.
With its reliance on theories of kinetic energy, torque, gravity and velocity, it may not feature in Delia or Jamie’s next cookbooks, but the Birmingham University physics lecturer’s formula is said to guarantee perfect results every time.
Claiming to have carried out his research in the kitchen of his own home, Dr Tungate concluded that half a joule of energy is needed to get a 50g pancake airborne to a height of one metre.
The pancake, weighing 50g, should be flipped into the air at a speed of 10 miles per hour, ensuring that it will take less than 0.5 of a second to reach the top of its trajectory. At this point the pancake should have rotated 90 degrees at a rate of 0.55 revs per second.
It then takes a further 0.45 seconds to make it back down to the pan, rotating a further 90 degrees on the way, making a total airtime of just nine-tenths of a second.
The pancake will then hit the pan with a velocity of 4.5 metres per second. Failure to position the pan correctly will result in the pancake continuing its journey on to the floor, which it will hit at 14 miles per hour, just 1.1 seconds after its launch. Worse, it will land uncooked side down.
Yesterday, Dr Tungate, whose research was sponsored by the Safeway supermarket chain, claimed it had been an interesting study.
"There is far more to tossing a pancake than meets the eye. I found that an average toss is a lot less than one-metre but a one-metre toss is much more impressive," he said.
"The best way to do it is to flip the wrist so that the pan moves in an upward arc which causes the pancake to slide up and out of the pan.
"A direct lift leaves a partial vacuum under the pancake which tends to keep it in the pan. The movement in the arc supplies the torque to flip the pancake."
