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Related: About this forumWorld's oldest and stickiest lab study ready for drop of excitement
Scientist conducting Australian experiment begun in 1927 to calculate viscosity of pitch, the world's stickiest substance, hopes ninth drop of material will fall soon
In terms of output, Queensland University's pitch drop study the world's oldest laboratory experiment has been stunningly low. Only eight drops have emerged from the lump of pitch installed in the university's physics building foyer in 1927. Watching paint dry looks exhilarating by comparison.
But excitement is now rising over the experiment, which was set up to calculate the viscosity of the world's stickiest substance, pitch, which has been found to be at least 230 billion times more viscous than water. According to Professor John Mainstone, who has run the experiment since the 1960s, a ninth drop looks set to emerge from the pitch block in the very near future.
"No one has actually seen a drop emerge, so it is getting quite nervy round here," said Mainstone. "The other eight drops happened while people had their backs turned. For the last drop, in 2000, we had a webcam trained on the experiment, but it broke down
in 1988, when the previous drop was about to emerge, I popped out for a coffee and missed it."
http://m.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/apr/27/worlds-oldest-lab-study-excitement
Xipe Totec
(43,888 posts)Ironically, the Spanish word for pitch is brea. As in La Brea Tar Pits, where the dinosaurs ended up.
denbot
(9,898 posts)Much younger then dinosaurs by 65 million years.
I use pitches low flow characteristics for two very different hobbies. The first is metal working. I use pitch as a platform for raising a shape from the back side of a sheet of metal, which is called repousse'.
The second takes advantage of pitches slow flow for finishing shaping, and polishing telescope mirrors. These custom made tools are called pitch laps.
Cool stuff.
Xipe Totec
(43,888 posts)dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)If a week takes a fortnight how long would it take a flea with clogs on to cross a barrel of treacle.